Log of a Wimpy Mechling
by Reader-Writer-Animator
Summary: We all know and love Bumblebee, that cute yellow-and-black Urbana 500... But what was he like as a little sparkling caught up in a very big war? Join the Autobots in finding out through an old log of his... TF:Prime.
1. Entry 1

**I had this idea a while ago, but Life got in the way. Now with school and exams gone, there's nothing to stop me! So here we go.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers.**

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Bumblebee ran into the command center, terribly excited. "Arcee!" The femme, who had been standing on monitor duty, whirled round. She hadn't heard so much excitement in Bumblebee's voice since he'd realized that he could speak again. He dashed up to her. "Look what I found in the ruins of the MCCC!"

"The what?"

"The Military Command Center and Clinic. Don't you remember?" Arcee looked at him with sadness mixed with disappointment. "You went there alone? In your off time, when nobody knew where you were going? Bumblebee, those ruins could be unstable, you know." 'Bee shook his head. "Not the point. Here, look."

He pulled an old datapad out of his subspace and gave it to her. The glass was cracked and there were smaller ones running through the padguard on the back. She merely looked at him in confusion. "What is it?"

"My old log. Which I used to keep as a sparkling. Remember?" Arcee smiled. "Right. You used to carry it around with you everywhere. You really loved that thing." She turned it over in her digits. If she looked closely, she could almost see the 'BUMBLEBEE' etched out on the padguard in Cybertronian.

"You know what? We should all read this out sometime. Together." Bumblebee looked mortified. "It'll be fun." She insisted. "It'll bring back some old memories." Bumblebee still looked reluctant. "Come on, 'Bee. Besides, it'll be fun for you, too. We'll all relive those memories together."

"Some of those memories are not meant to be relived." He muttered darkly, just soft enough that Arcee wouldn't catch the words. "What?" She looked a little concerned. He smiled at her. "Never mind. You're right, let's all read it together. Tonight, after patrol." She nodded and passed the datapad back to him. "All right, then."

After patrol, 'Bee announced his plan to Team Prime. They gazed at him with surprise and curiosity. It was the final night of Ratchet's stay. Soon, he would return to Earth, but before that, he wanted to read the datapad out loud and share all those old memories with him, Bumblebee said. The Autobots signaled their approval. So once they were all seated and had their nightly rations in their servos, he began to read.

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Entry #1

Well, the only reasons I'm actually writing this are:

(1) I don't have anything better to do. I'm not allowed out of the medibay without supervision. 'Cause Ratchet is paranoid. And there's only medicky stuff to do in the medibay. Which is the most boring place this side of Cybertron. Which is kind of ironic, actually, 'cause I practically grew up in the medibay, so I shouldn't think that it's boring. But it still is. And-

Right. I'm rambling. Sorry. (Who am I apologizing to, anyway? Is anybot reading this? I hope not.) Anyway,

(2) Ratchet told me to. Since I need 'personality development'. When Ratchet tells me something, it's usually true. Exception: When Ratchet says that too many energon goodies are bad for me. Then I know he's lying.

But I think that Ratchet is just making me write this 'cause he wants to spy on my activities. (Stay away, Ratchet!)

Eh...I actually don't have very much to say. I'm still getting used to this whole keeping a log business. Today was pretty interesting, though.

There's a lull in the War currently, which is supposed to be good, but that just means that the twins, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are pulling off random pranks, while the wreckers are doing stupid things to amuse themselves. (Ratchet's definition of stupid, anyway. For me, it just means entertainment watching Ratchet yell at them.)

Today, Wheeljack came in the sickbay unconscious. Obviously, Ratchet panicked, thinking that there had been a Decepticon attack or something. But then Bulkhead said that Wheeljack had a grenade in his mouth when it exploded . I... don't even want to know what they were thinking.

When Ratchet demanded to know just what the grenade was doing there, Bulkhead muttered something sheepishly about a dare. The medibot lost it then and there. _Clang_ went the wrench.

I stood and watched the fun, like I usually do, along with a poorly hidden laugh here and there. Of course, when it's me he's yelling at, I have a strange urge to go and hide in the store cupboard.

Anyway, after that, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, the twins, came in. Something about a loose comm. patch. They're always promising to take me out, but they never really have the time. But they're really fun when they're around.

After Ratchet had finished repairing them and all that, I hung around to hear them talk about pranking Ratchet. I'm always nervous when they do that, 'cause if Ratchet knows that I was involved in any way, he'll kill me for sure. (Not literally, of course.) And believe me, I learned my lesson last time.

This time, they were thinking of painting him neon blue, like a giant, glowing energon cube. I just wished them good luck and scooted off after that. They think I'm a goody-goody. I'm not a goody-goody... am I?

I hope they succeed, though, 'cause Ratchet the energon cube would be hilarious.

Well... That was actually quite a bit, huh. I think I might just be able to keep this up. For now, Bumblebee out.

* * *

 **Please review with whatever you thought about the first entry!**


	2. Entry 2

**Many thanks to those who reviewed.**

 **Stella Nova001: Thanks! I'm going to try and cover all aspects of what his life might have been like.**

 **Guest: I'm glad. Here's the second entry.**

 **Tanisa Bumblebrasil and unicron1000: Here's the update. :)**

 **Commander Prima: Thank you. I hope I do well with the rest of it too.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Entry #2

YES! I feel like dancing and singing... except I'm not very good at either. Oh, well, who cares? This is AWESOME.

Okay, so I should probably type out the news first and celebrate later.

So today, Arcee came into the medibay. Arcee's nice. Like the twins, she never has time to stick around, but sometimes she brings me something nice.

Once she got me a scrapmetal ball. It was really fun to play with even by myself. Ratchet told me not to play with it in the medibay, but I played there anyway ('cause I don't have anywhere else to play!) and broke one of Ratchet's tools. Then Ratchet yelled, ' _I needed that!_ '. As usual. (Well, I usually don't break his tools, but he's always saying that.) And he started giving me a lecture about how expensive equipment is 'cause of the War. And the ball was confiscated. Hmph.

Anyway, she hadn't brought anything this time, but that was okay, since she's nice to talk to too. But then, Optimus Prime walked in!

I've only seen him four or five times in my entire life. He's so huge! I'm not even half his height. I hope I'll grow up to be big and strong like him. Then when the Decepticons see me, they'll all run away in fright.

Prowl was with him. (Believe me, that mech is creepy.)

They and Ratchet started talking about supplies of medical energon. Out of the corner of my optic, I could see that Optimus Prime was carefully watching me and Arcee talking. Then he asked what a growing sparkling like me was doing inside, cooped up in the sickbay.

Ratchet gave all his reasons, like I was still a sparkling so I needed supervision, he didn't have time, there was a _war_ going on, and what was he going to do if I was hurt or attacked or lost? So Prowl suggested giving me a guardian.

So Optimus assigned Arcee to be my guardian. And she's supposed to take me out once every single solar cycle!

Arcee wasn't very happy about it, but Optimus said that she had to 'cause he had observed the 'bond' between us and as a youngling she could 'connect' to me better. Then he hurried out of the room before she could protest.

I think he was bluffing about the bond 'cause Arcee started to blackmail him about gender discrimination and how he assigned me to her since she was the only _femme_ who could look after me and do her warrior duties well.

Arcee got so annoyed that she stomped out of the room and Ratchet had to call her back as he hadn't completed treating her yet. Heh heh. But she refused to talk to me.

Again, who cares? She's going to have to take me out tomorrow, whether she likes it or not. I never get to go out, usually. Ever. Nobot has time. But now since Arcee's going to chaperon me, I can go out and play and have fun, for once! WOOHOO!

Oops...I probably shouldn't have said that out loud. Now Ratchet is coming here, yelling about peace and quiet in the medibay. He really should practice what he preaches. Anyway, I've got to go! Bumblebee out!

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 **Please review and tell me your thoughts!**


	3. Entries 3 and 4

**Here's the next chapter. Since one reviewer said that the last one was too short, I've decided to have two entries in one chapter from now on. Many thanks to those who reviewed!**

 **child of jon snow: True!**

 **SpiritFighter208: I'm glad you like the story! This chapter will have a bit more to it. Ratchet's a bit like his foster parent - but he doesn't really show his affection the way a parent would. It's his job, and he does it. Here's your update.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Entry #3

Today was the most boring solar cycle of my life. (Well, my life hasn't been very long yet, but still.)

Surprisingly, Arcee didn't seem as ticked off about taking me out as she was yesterday. We went to this huge park in Iacon. Or maybe it just seemed huge 'cause we were the only ones there. It had been completely abandoned after the War, since there are barely any sparklings left to enjoy it and all the younglings, like Arcee, are busy with the war effort. I tried sitting on one of the rusty tire swings and it fell off – me with it.

So me and Arcee started playing catch instead, with the newly unconfiscated ball. But that got boring after a while. I mean, how long are you going to spend tossing that thing? And Arcee wouldn't even let me throw the ball really high since it could land on one of our helms and a nice little dent would be formed. Then both of us would get a second dent for being careless – this time caused by Ratchet's wrench.

Then Arcee taught me this weird clapping game which she used to play, when _she_ was a sparkling. It was kind of fun. Then it got boring too. So we just sat there with nothing to do.

On the way back, Arcee bought me an energon treat at this tiny little shop. It was called a Black Backlash. I'd never tasted it before, but Arcee said it was good so I decided to try it. It was pretty good.

I think she got it for me 'cause she was feeling a little guilty since she made me bored. Then I started feeling a little scared thinking about the lecture that Ratchet would give me when we came back. Arcee rolled her optics and said she'd bought it off her own credit, so Ratchet better suck it up. Apparently I am too obedient for my own good.

I'm not very sure whether that was a compliment or an insult.

But when we came back, Ratchet didn't say a word about the treat – to me, anyway. He just told Arcee that she shouldn't buy me one too often. Ratchet is really weird sometimes. You'll never know what he'll do next.

Well...That's all I have to say, really. I am going to die of boredom if every single solar cycle is like this. Going outside isn't all it's cut out to be.

Yawn. I'm too bored to type any more now and, there isn't much else I could say anyway. I think I'll be going to recharge now. At least Ratchet will be happy he won't have to yell at me to power down on time. Maybe next time I'll have something more to say – I hope. Bumblebee out...

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Entry #4

Today was kind of mixed. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker finally pulled off their prank. Ratchet didn't even realize he'd been painted a brilliant blue and was somehow glowing, until I started laughing. Luckily, since I was out yesterday, he didn't think that I was involved. Which is true. Honest.

He tried washing, but it simply wouldn't come off. All the other medics and other mechs (and femmes) were staring at Ratchet. I felt a little bad for him then.

But the funniest part was when Optimus Prime came in and wondered what in the pits of Kaon Ratchet had done to himself. Everybot was laughing and pointing. Poor Ratchet got so mad I thought he would explode, so finally Optimus asked who had done it. The twins owned up. Though,to be honest, there wasn't really ever much of a doubt about the culprit, since Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are always pranking all the other 'Bots. (Except for the Wreckers. Even they're not that stupid.)

Optimus made them apologize and they were sentenced to maintenance duty for an entire groon. But I don't think they actually care, though. They're on maintenance duty so often that the regular crew call them the Substitutes. They never learn.

Later, when Arcee came in to take me out, reports started coming in about Iacon's east side being attacked by 'Cons. Ratchet advised us not to go, so we didn't and soon enough, Arcee was called out for reinforcements. In the beginning I felt kind of relieved that I wouldn't be getting bored again. But all my relief vanished when the medibay was flooded with patients.

I hate it when that happens. I hate the moans and groans of the patients and their pain-filled screams and how all of them venting makes the sickbay feel crowded and stuffy.

When I was younger it used to scare me worse than electrical storms or even bombings. One time I actually curled up into a ball and cried and Ratchet had to comfort me afterwards. But I'm lots braver now. The medics always need all the help they can get, so, scary or not, I have to help. That still doesn't mean I like it though.

Finally, when all the patients were treated and there weren't anymore coming in, I was ordered to go power down and Ratchet went on field medic duty to help bring in the few remaining stragglers. (I'm supposed to be in recharge right now. Oh well.)

I heard Ratchet say that the War is picking up again. Great. More medibay mayhem.

But at least I might make some friends. When the War picks up, refugees and Neutrals pour into Iacon. Some of them have sparklings and I'm allowed to go and play with them. But they never stay long, and usually I never see them again.

Most of them (and their creators) hate the Autobots and the Decepticons. I have no idea why. We never did anything to them... did we? I asked the twins about it once and they just sighed and said that different bots have different views. Which is pretty odd of them. I asked Arcee and Ratchet too and they said the exact same thing. And they all refused to explain any further.

Uh oh, Ratchet just got back. If I don't turn off the light and get into my berth right now, I'm going to get another long, long lecture on the importance of recharging on time. Bumblebee out.

* * *

"But why did everybot hate both the 'Bots and the 'Cons?" Smokescreen asked, confused. Ratchet sighed. "When the war began, there were hardly any takers for the Autobot side." Many of Team Prime looked shocked. Knockout snickered at the looks on their faceplates. Ratchet gave him a look. "It was a secret well kept, but it was a fact. That's when the High Council made it compulsory for all citizens to join the Autobots. It was a much hated law."

"But why would anybot want to be a 'Con?" Wheeljack questioned. Ratchet was about to reply, but Knockout cut him off. "You'd think so." He sneered. "But most of the lower castes joined Megatron because they felt that violence was the only way to shake up the status quo. Many of us didn't have families they wanted to protect, but friends they wanted to fight alongside. In the lowest castes, you were considered lucky to live forty-five vorns or longer. Most were orphans."

"They were young and angry." Ratchet agreed. "And Megatron knew that. He engineered propaganda specifically to target the masses."

Knockout continued, "And the new Prime – your big O – was too new at the game to get anything done from the bunch of slaggers formerly known as the High Council. They nominated him Prime, but kept most of the power for themselves. By the time he wrested power from them, it was practically too late. Then, when they figured out that they were losing, they finally made that rule." All stared at him, half surprised by the bitterness in his tone.

"Well? Continue." He prompted, waving at Bumblebee. Bumblebee nodded, but hesitated. "Arcee..." She focused her optics on him, as did all the others. "Are you sure you want me to read the next chapter? It's...well, it has Tailgate in it."

Arcee vented deeply. "Go on."

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 **Please tell me how I've done in a review, so that I can improve! :)**


	4. Entries 5 and 6

**Here come the next ones. Thanks to the reviewers:**

 **unicron1000: Here's your update.**

 **Child of Jonsnow: My hate for the Council is eternal, too. I'm glad that you were looking forward to this and liking it! I've always thought of Knockout as having a political creature under that shiny finish. He presents the 'Con's views on things.**

 **Commander Prima: Tailgate was obviously an influence on Arcee and so he'll be in here as Arcee is one of the main influences on 'Bee's life. She's his guardian, so if she wants to go somewhere, he'll have to tag along too. And so will Tailgate.**

 **Stella Nova001: I'm glad you find this story exciting! Here's the next.**

 **Enjoy the story!**

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Entry #5

Today was... well, I don't even know how to describe it. It was weird.

The morning brought a few 'Bots into the medibay – but not too many. I hoped that Ratchet was wrong about the War, but I was proved wrong later in through the solar cycle.

Anyway, Arcee came in earlier than usual. She said we were going to the races. I was super exited! I'd only seen a live race once before and it was AWESOME. So Ratchet made sure that Iacon seemed safe for the afternoon and off we went.

The races are a really long way away from the center of Iacon where the Military Command Center and Clinic ( or the MCCC – really creative name, right?) is located, 'cause races need a lot of space. It was boring to walk all the way, but since I'm not a youngling yet, I don't have an alt-mode and Arcee can't exactly just zoom off and leave me in the dust.

When we finally got there, I realized that it was packed with 'Bots of all shapes and sizes. Apparently, most soldiers like to spend their credits on betting (which is technically illegal) at the races – besides high grade, of course. Obviously, we weren't there for that. Arcee told me to hold her servo really tight and stick to her like a nut to a bolt. I was perfectly fine with that.

Finally, when we got to our seats, some random four wheeler came up to Arcee and said hey. He was mostly white with a few yellow and orange highlights. Arcee answered in a really annoyed tone. I asked who he was, but she just ignored me. The mech sat right next to her and she said pointedly that she'd come here just to avoid him. But he only grinned and started to compliment her finish with this weird look in his optics.

Now, normally you'd like it if somebot did that, wouldn't you? But Arcee got even more annoyed instead. Then the race actually started and this mech started to insult all of them, saying that he could do better. Including Bluestreak, who's pretty much the best racer this side of Cybertron.

Arcee finally got tired of his boasting and asked him to prove it. So he's promised her a race tomorrow. Huh. Wonder how that'll go.

In the end I got annoyed at their arguing and yelled at them to shut up so that I could actually watch the race. They were silent for about a microcycle. Then they started all over again.

Bluestreak won, as expected. But it wasn't any fun with those two hanging over my helm.

On the way back, Arcee explained that the mech was in her unit and he was called Tailgate. He'd been troubling her since the morning. I balled my digits and said that he'd better watch out. She laughed and called me cute. I have no idea why she found that so funny, or how cute applies to me of all bots.

Then, when I told Ratchet about it, he laughed too. So did all the other medics. What's so funny? I still don't get it. Hmph.

And so now I'm typing this, just before I power down... Bumblebee out.

* * *

Bumblebee cast a glance towards Arcee. She seemed fine, smiling almost, lost in her memory banks. He continued.

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Entry #6

Another sparking came today. His name is Conceal. He's older then me, almost a youngling. His sire was in the medibay 'cause of a disjointed servo, so Ratchet said I could play with him for the solar cycle. Without supervision!

I took him to the park where Arcee and I had gone a few solar cycles ago. We played ball for a pretty long time. He was way more fun to play with then Arcee, 'cause Arcee never lets the ball go above my helm.

When we got bored, I showed him the clapping game. He laughed that clapping games are for femmelings. That kind of makes sense, since Arcee is a femme and she's the one who taught me. But why discriminate? If it's fun, both genders should be allowed to do it. I mean, it's not written in the Covenant of Primus, "Mechlings, thou shall not play clapping games."

He just rolled his optics and wondered how I know long words like 'discrimination' which he's never even heard before. I... didn't know what to say to that.

So we gave up on playing and sat down to talk. His sire is an army general. Said general, once fixed, would be off to the battlefield and poor Conceal would be moved to another base, this time probably in Tarn. His carrier had offlined long, long ago.

I feel kind of sorry for him, to be honest. 'Cause throughout his life, there never really was anybot to look after him or teach him stuff. And from the way he was talking, it seemed that his sire never really paid him any attention, like he was just a minor obstacle.

The again, this is coming from a bot who can't even remember his carrier or sire. But at least I stay in one place and Ratchet's around to look after me and show me medicky stuff. Even though I don't like it very much.

After a little while, Arcee, Tailgate and a couple of friends of theirs who I didn't recognize showed up. I told Conceal all about yesterday's challenge. (You remember that, right? Of course you do. You're a datapad, you have memory banks.)

So all us of had gathered in that huge park in Iacon. Arcee and Tailgate's friends were so noisy that they almost made the park seem full. Conceal wondered if they'd had high grade and we both cracked up.

As for the race, Arcee won. Though it was kind of obvious that she'd win, now that I think of it. Tailgate may not be one of those really bulky mechs or like the ones who have around a thousand mods, but he's still not exactly slim. And 'cause Arcee is a two wheeler she has a huge advantage in places where there's very little traction, like the park. Too bad for 'Gate. Their friends were betting, I think – lots of credits were being handed out. But since there was nobot to see them except me and Conceal, they weren't afraid of being caught.

Arcee was surprised to see me there. Ratchet had told me that I'd gone already so she could have the afternoon to herself. Huh.

She, her friends, Conceal and I walked back to the MCCC together. Though it wasn't very fun with a bunch of giggling femmes. Arcee alone is fine. With her friends... never mind. They said that Conceal is cute. From which angle, I will never understand. Then again, they think that just about everybot is cute.

When I finally got back to the medibay, Conceal had to leave with his sire, while I got stuck doing all the chores I had missed since I had been out with him. Not fair. So the rest of the evening wasn't so fun.

Well, that's it, really. Bumblebee out!

* * *

 **Please review and tell me how I did! Does Conceal's side of things seem legitimate? How is Tailgate? Tell me how it was so that I can improve.**

 **On a side note, from now on, I'll be updating every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (Indian time.)**


	5. Entries 7 and 8

**Here come the next two entries as promised! Thanks to all the lovely reviewers:**

 **child of Jon snow: I'm glad that Conceal sounds fine. I've always thought that Arcee and Tailgate would learn to love each other, rather than falling in love at first sight. So they're going to argue a lot and make mistakes, but also support each other. It makes me happy to think that you were looking forward to seeing this!**

 **frog guy: I hate the council because they're the ones behind all the casteist shenanigans. Though Sentinel Prime who thinks these things up, they're the ones who implement it, create inertia in government operations, and don't care about others as long as their lives are luxurious. They're the epitome of bad bureaucracy. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!**

 **unicron1000: Here's your update.**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: I'm glad you think so!**

 **Enjoy!**

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Entry #7

Today was miserable. And I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm sulking.

The solar cycle started with an attack somewhere midway between here and Tarn. An entire patrol was wiped out, only energon covered bodies left. I can only hope that Conceal and his sire weren't on that patrol. If they were... I don't even want to think about it. Though Ratchet keeps telling me that they most probably weren't, since they left yesterday itself. 'Most probably' isn't good enough.

Then Arcee came in as per usual. She wanted drag me outside to do something stupid and pointless when all I wanted to do was sit in and sulk. Not fair.

At that point, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came in and I begged and pleaded for them to come, 'cause at least they're fun. But they reminded me that they had mantainance duty to do and made sad faces at Ratchet, who wouldn't budge at all. Finally, a compromise was agreed on, where we would all go in a breem, after the twins finished.

I would have sat and sulked while waiting for them, but no. I don't get a moment's peace. Ratchet gave me a twenty terabyte capacity datapad on medical analysis and actually expected me to read it. Said it was important if I wanted to become a medic. I told him clearly that I want to become a warrior soon as I become a youngling. I don't want to sit around in the medibay and do boring medicky stuff. He seemed surprised, but said I had to read it anyway. Grrr.

When the breem was finally over, the twins and Arcee appeared. The twins said they wanted to go watch a holo-vid and Arcee said that she didn't mind. I didn't, either, so off we went.

We decided on which one to see as we went. Sideswipe and Arcee wanted to watch _Rascalla_ , (Apparently _Rascalla_ is Protihexian slang for filthy hacker) but Sunstreaker and I wanted to see _Hadeen is Bright Tonight 2_. Sideswipe said that _Hadeen is Bright Tonight 1_ was horrible (it was awesome!) and boring. Then he and I got into an argument. Finally we all decided on _Prism_.

When we went into the the dark screening theater at first I thought that _Prism_ was boring but it turned out to be one of those really deep kind of holo-vids, which aren't that bad.

But the main holo's best friend, Amplify, made me think of Conceal (even though he's not my best friend) and I almost started to cry, but I held it in like a big mech. Until Amplify died. Then I really did cry.

Nobot even noticed until we came out of the theater. They panicked and tried to get me to stop crying with a Black Backlash, but I couldn't. So they took me back to Ratchet, who gave them a couple of dents and a huge lecture on what is and isn't appropriate for a sparkling to watch. I felt kind of sorry for them.

Then Ratchet told me to type in the log and then power down. He sounded the nicest I'd ever heard him.

But today was miserable anyway.

I think I'll head for my berth now. Bumblebee out.

* * *

" Thank goodness we didn't watch _Rascalla_." Arcee said, smiling. The others grinned a little, too, except for Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Ultra Magnus, who looked confused, and Ratchet, who shook his helm in disapproval.

"Why?" asked Ultra Magnus with mild curiosity.

"Let me put it this way." smirked Knockout. "That holo-vid could cause permanent processor damage to innocent little sparklings."

* * *

Entry #8

I've been up since 0400 hours and I haven't had a moment's rest since then, but I still can't slip into recharge.

There was an invasion in Iacon in the morning, and it woke me up. Usually, the Iaconian air defense takes care of bombings, but this time there were grounders too. As a result, it was time for some heavy action.

Ratchet took me to the medibay and left to go and get supplies. I desperately wanted to recharge some more, but I knew that if that I did, I wouldn't wake up again. So I sat on a spare berth trying to keep my optics online. Most medics were on field duty and the rest weren't there yet, so I was all alone.

I heard the sound of a groundbridge opening, which I figured was really weird, since no portals are allowed straight into the medibay; it's a rule. Alarms started to flash as a robotic voice said _Shield breach in sector 51A2. Shield breach._

I saw a brightly colored Autobot coming out of the bridge and I felt kind of relieved. Then I realized that something was wrong. The Bot's optics didn't shine energon blue. And there was a gigantic hole in the middle of his chestplates. I freaked out and screamed as the body was thrown down on to the floor. (Can you blame me?)

Seven Vehicons came out. One of them shot at me. The shot got my servo and forced it backwards so that the cables were dislocated and blackened my armor. I screamed again. Before he could bang me a new one, the door flew open and Tailgate jumped out. He pulled out his stingers. Arcee joined him and soon the Vehicons were dead, gone and recycled. The alarms stopped.

Arcee lifted me (With Tailgate's help, I'm heavy!) onto the berth off which I had fallen and told me to stop crying like I was a vorn old.

Prowl looked in, but he was kind of too late to do anything. He just said that since Tailgate and Arcee seemed to work especially well together he would think of making them partners. Arcee groaned. I snickered. Tailgate grinned. Then Prowl called them both back on duty.

When Ratchet came in with all the other medics and saw me injured, he panicked and I had to try and keep my laughter in at his face. I told him the whole story as he patched me up.

Then the real chaos started. Patients rushing in and out and out and in all the while, talking, crying and screaming. As a medic, or rather,an assistant medic, it's scary enough, but was even more terrifying from the view of a patient. I got shifted to a corner 'cause they didn't have enough space for all of us.

Finally, they didn't have space for me there either, so Crosspatch helped me hobble (I learned a new word today. Hobble. I like learning new words. Maybe if we win this War and the castes are abolished, I'll become an author. Or a teacher. That would be fun.) to my berth. But I couldn't power down – the explosions were keeping me awake. They still are. That's why I'm typing. I just wish I could slip into recharge, so bad...

Several housing units are burning. I can see them from the window. I wonder whether there's anybot trapped in there. That would be a sad way to go.

Another bomb blast. I'm starting to feel scared now. Crosspatch turned the lights off, so there are menacing shadows drifting across the walls. I really wi

* * *

"Why does did you leave the word hanging?" wondered Bulkhead. Bumblebee looked at him sheepishly. "Erm, I powered down."

"Oh."

"I remember apologizing for it in the next entry." He pressed the _next_ button.

* * *

 **How are these entries? Please let me know about whatever you thought about it through a review!**


	6. Entries 9 and 10

**Here's 'Bee's apology. Thanks to all you great reviewers!**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. Presenting Bumblebee's perspective was my objective.**

 **unicron1000: Here's your update.**

 **SpiritFighter208: I'm happy you liked the last part. Thanks, I'm glad you were looking forward to this!**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks, I'm glad you like this! I will certainly try to keep it up.**

 **Enjoy the story!**

* * *

Entry #9

I'm sorry about that. (Just who am I apologizing to, anyway? You're a datapad, you aren't sentient...are you?) I powered down in the middle of typing.

Right, so what was I going to type again? I don't remember... Oh, right! Today was actually pretty good. Can you believe that? I can't!

Arcee and I went to the park and we saw two other sparklings playing there. One was around the same age as I am and the other was really young, maybe just five or six vorns old. We were really surprised, 'cause the general assumption was that all sparklings younger than me had been wiped out in the War.

I went over and said Hi. They said Hi back. The older one's name was Highlander and her sister's name was Axis. Highlander is green and white, while Axis is white and blue. They were both off-roaders, from the look of them, though I didn't ask, since that's not very polite.

They asked me if I wanted to play and I said yes. I asked Arcee if she wanted to play, too, but she said no. So just the three of us played.

They taught me a new game, Hide-and-go-shriek. Apparently it's a really common game in Praxus, where they're from. In Hide-and-go-shriek, you throw a old can or something like that, called a Bhanda, as far as you can and the bot who is It has to run there and kick it to the starting line while the others hide. And he's supposed to keep his helm down, so he doesn't see where they are hiding.

When he reaches the starting line, he has to leave the can there and go to find the others. If he sees somebot, he has to run back to the Bhanda and yell, "Axis-go-shriek!" (Or whoever else it is.) so that they become out, before the others can kick the Bhanda away from the starting point. (If that happens, he loses the game and he has to be It again.)

There weren't too many hiding places in the park, but it was still fun to actually play something. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. Arcee keeps teasing me that it's only because I had somebody pretty to play with. That's not true! I don't like Highlander. I mean, I don't like her in that way. Eww. Though she is kind of pretty, now that I think about it...

By the way, I kept noticing that all sparklings (though I haven't actually seen that many) are usually a combination of white and some other color – excepting me, of course, I'm yellow and black. Smokescreen, Highlander and Axis are all like that.

I asked Ratchet about it and he told me, that according to legend, Primus himself is supposed to be white, so almost all sparklings are sparked partly white to show that they are a part of him. And those that aren't sparked like that, who were 'Painted', like me, used to be called cursed and they were shunned. But nobot believes in that any more, he said, least of all him.

Now I know why half of Iacon (and sometimes even the soldiers who come into the medibay) give me dirty looks. I remember a trio of younglings who tried to punch me in the face one time, for no apparent reason – I was really young at the time and I can't really remember much. Could it have been because I am 'Painted'?

I don't know, and there's no way to tell.

I'm glad that I'm going to become a youngling this stellar cycle, because younglings are allowed their first paintjobs, so then everybot will assume I chose this one and I wasn't sparked with it.

On that note... Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Does anybot here actually believe in that stuff any more?" asked Wheeljack, an optic ridge raised. They all shrugged.

"I think that we have all seen enough of both evil and good to distinguish between the two without having to rely on a paint job." Ultra Magnus said, voicing their thoughts. "Carry on."

* * *

Entry #10

Today was the the beginning of the Medic Duty Groon. It's a special groon when all the youngling units come in turn by turn to work in the medibay for a cycle. They have one every stellar cycle. It's supposed to be so that they learn basic medical skills. Or maybe it's just so that their commanding officers get a cycle off and poor Ratchet has to deal with them for a while.

In any case, I get to act all uppity and I can boss them around and yell at them when they do something wrong. It's fun! And the best part is that they have to listen to me. It's part of the 'Chain of Command'. Which is... You know what, I'm not going to continue that. I don't want to sound like A Trainee's Guide to Battlefield Mechanisms. It's a datapad that you are supposed to go through when you get inducted. Except nobot ever takes it seriously. I read it 'cause I had nothing better to do once. It wasn't too bad.

But this time's Medic Duty Groon wasn't very fun.

The younglings in Unit Alpha came in this morning. Unit Alpha consists of the most promising younglings in the force, so they're all huge and well built, with special mods and battle armor. I hope that when I get inducted, I go in Unit Alpha. But probably not. I'm not that well built. They'll most likely assign me to a scout team.

All of Unit Alpha had bored looks on their faceplates. They were being stupid and clumsy and knocking things over and touching Ratchet's tools. Ratchet himself wasn't there, since he was repairing some commander in the other room.

I knew that Ratchet wouldn't like what they were doing, so I stood up on a table and addressed them. "Hey! All of you! Ratchet is coming, so could you all stand to the side and not touch anything?" That's all I said. I swear.

But they all started laughing cruelly. The biggest one of them all (I don't know his name) came up to me. He was huge and a bright shade of red. He snickered and picked me off the table by the edge of my armor.

He said that I was a rusty little punk and he didn't have to take any orders from a sparkling. And he just wouldn't put me down. I told him that I hadn't ordered him to do anything and had only asked them, very politely, to move to one side. As an answer, he shoved me into the wall. Then they all started laughing again.

Then Ratchet arrived just in time. Big Red dropped me, but he got a nice smack from Ratchet's wrench anyway. And Ratchet said that he would report their behavior to their commanding officer. Then he gave them a long lecture about the Chain of Command and how I was a 'specialist' in the medibay and they were 'specialists' in their own fields. And since they didn't know a thing about being a medic they had to listen to me whether they liked it or not. He went on to detail the fact that he didn't want to hear about any more arrogance on their part. Yes! Revenge was served.

After that they listened and paid some attention to what Ratchet was doing, mostly 'cause Ratchet's a really good teacher. As far as possible, he shows things practically. And the way that he talks about stuff, it makes you feel interested too. But medicky stuff is still boring to me.

The rest of the solar cycle was alright. Not all of the units were arrogant like Unit Alpha. They were even worse. Unit Zeta was half in recharge. Most of Unit Iota kept looking out of the windows. And Unit Lambda wouldn't stop talking. My audio receptors are still ringing.

It got me thinking that when I become an Autobot and am assigned to a unit, it would be so boring for me to come in here and have Ratchet teach me stuff I already know.

At the end of the solar cycle, I remembered that I'd promised to meet Highlander and Axis at the park. I asked Ratchet if I could at least go tomorrow. He said, "We'll see," 'cause I'm supposed to help Ratchet 'cause all the other medics are busy treating soldiers. I'm not hopeful, though. "We'll see." usually means no.

Well, anyway, Bumblebee out.

* * *

"I remember Unit Alpha." Arcee recalled. "Oh yeah, they were a bunch of slaggers."

"I completely agree." said Bumblebee, grinning. Even Ratchet agreed. "Those idiots thought they knew everything just because they were the strongest. Bolt-headed, most of them."

"Hey!" Wheeljack protested. "I was in Unit Alpha. I turned out just fine."

"So you say." said Ratchet wryly.

"Oh, come on. Anybot else from Alpha?" Wheeljack demanded. "Bulk?"

"Sorry, Jackie. I was in Delta."

"Epsilon, and then Partner-2." Arcee said.

"Scout Team II." Bumblebee said.

"Basic training only." said Ratchet.

Smokescreen chimed in. "Elite Guards. Uh, and then HR-14. Fourteenth guard of The Hall of Records."

"Ultra Magnus?" Wheeljack turned to him in desperation. He smiled slightly. "I was with the Elite Guards. And then I joined to train under Optimus Prime. We were known as The Prime's Guards."

Wheeljack groaned. Everybot then looked at Knockout, who attempted a defensive posture. "I was a Decepticon medic! We didn't have such rigid definitions."

"Go on, 'Bee." Bumblebee grinned and pressed _next._

* * *

 **So, how'd you like it? Tell me in a review so that I can improve. :D**


	7. Entries 11 and 12

**Thanks for all the inspiring reviews!**

 **SpiritFighter208: You'll find out soon enough. I'm glad you liked the chapter. I'm happy you were looking forward to this.**

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 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks! It's wonderful that you like this so much!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #11

Today was an adventure – but not the good kind. It was the second solar cycle of Medic Duty Groon and we finished off all the youngling warrior units. But I wasn't there for the last few since I managed to convince Ratchet to let me go to the park to meet Highlander and Axis. He wouldn't let me go without Arcee, though. It turned out to be a really good thing that he didn't.

Highlander and Axis were kind of mad at me for breaking my promise yesterday, but it was okay. We played Hide-and-go-shriek for a while. Then we heard a huge noise. We all looked up and realized that the 'Cons were bombing Iacon's east side again. The fighting hadn't reached the park yet, but it soon would. Arcee started swearing so bad that Highlander covered Axis' audio receptors. The wreckers are much worse, though, trust me.

Arcee asked Highlander where she lived. She pointed to a building right across. It was really close to the park – we could see the third or fourth story from above the wall. She lived there with her carrier. Then Arcee made us all come close and picked Axis up with one servo. Then she made Highlander hold her other one and I held Highlander's.

Then Arcee told us to stick together and run fast. She tried to reassure us by saying that Iacon's air defense system would most likely protect us from any bombings or fire and that the most important thing was to get everybot to safety, in the basement below the building. We were all really scared. Me, especially. I hate loud noises.

I can still remember how she said, "On the count of three. One, two, three!". I don't think I'll forget it in a hundred million vorns. We rushed out of the park and on to the street.

Then we saw something really horrible. A stray bomb sped towards Highlander's home. Arcee tried to make us run backwards but she was too late. It hit and the building literally burst into pieces. There was the spark-wrenching sound of tearing metal and suddenly the building was on the ground as quick as Bluestreak can finish a lap on the racetrack.

I felt a tug on my servos, but I was too stunned to stop her and Highlander ran into what was left of the building. Arcee called after her, but she wouldn't stop. Axis started to scream. Arcee gave her to me and told me to stay put. Then she ran after Highlander.

Highlander told me later that she saw her carrier dead, half buried in the rubble. I can't even imagine what that must've felt like. I don't know what happened after that, but I saw them both running out, pursued by Decepticons. Arcee grabbed my servo, pulled Axis up and lead us towards the MCCC.

It was a long, long way and we were really tired when we finally got there. I've never thought of the MCCC building as comforting – it's huge, with turrets and Autobots swarming about in every corner. There are cannons that can tell whether you're 'Bot or 'Con and shoot accordingly, and huge double doors made of titanium. But today, it felt like we were coming home.

Arcee shuttled us off to the medibay and then moved away to help with reinforcements. When Ratchet saw us he freaked out at our states. Axis was crying, Highlander was shaking and it was a long time before I realized that I was, too. He sent us straight off to the wash racks, 'cause we were all covered in soot.

I tried to be nice to Highlander, but all she said was, "Leave me alone, Bumblebee." So I did. But she could barely speak and Ratchet had to force her to take some energon. Axis was alright, mostly just in shock. I guess she didn't really understand the whole business.

I hope they'll feel better tomorrow. Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Do you know where they are now, 'Bee?" Arcee asked. Bumblebee looked confused. "Who?"

"Axis and Highlander." Bumblebee shuttered his optics. "Uh... I don't know. Highlander, well, you know what happened. Axis... I didn't see her after the Battle Of The Crossed Paths. Offline, probably. Or lost to the stars. I don't know."

Ratchet, who was sitting next to Bumblebee, put a servo around him. "Read." He said gently.

* * *

Entry #12

Today was confusing. On the third solar cycle of Medic Duty Groon, all the youngling Partner units came in. Since Arcee was newly partnered with Tailgate, she had been shifted from Unit Epsilon to Partner-2. So I got to tease her and watch them argue for a full cycle. It was funny. They argued over the stupidest things, like who was supposed to hold down the 'patient' they were supposed to be repairing, or who was going to give the 'patient' the injection. Even I'm not that immature.

When I told that to Ratchet, he told me that it would happen to me someday, too. I just needed to wait and see. What's that supposed to mean?

There are only five Partner units, so we were able to finish it off quickly. Then Ratchet said that I could have the rest of the solar cycle free, but I had to get some stuff – I think it was a bottle of Acetoferrocynide and the tub of Magnesium Hydroxide salve – from the store cupboard in the storeroom before I could have my free time. The storeroom reminded me of the times when I was really young and I used to hide in the store cupboard and Ratchet pretended that he couldn't find me. Now I'm grown up and and the War has taken over everybot's time. I'm too old to hide in the cupboard any more and Ratchet doesn't have time to play games with me either.

Then I heard Jazz come in and he started having a full blown argument with Ratchet. I kind of half listened until I realized it was about Highlander, Axis and me.

It went something like this:

Ratchet : Do you think I'm some kind of a daycare center? Primus, Jazz! I have better things to do than look after three sparklings!

Jazz : We don't have any choice! Iacon is practically under siege every other solar cycle! There's no way we could send those two to the Youth Centers, they'd be blown apart before they even got there! And one of them is even younger than Bumblebee. (That's when I started listening properly.)

Ratchet : Then what are you going to do about it? I refuse to deal with three sparklings running around my medibay, causing all kinds of trouble!

Jazz : That's what you said about Bumblebee, too.

Ratchet (sighing) : That was a very different time. The War wasn't so dire back then. And Bumblebee was just one. Besides, we decided not to send him to the Youth Centers for very different reasons – which you know, Jazz. (That made me seriously curious. Why didn't they send me to the Youth Centers? I'd asked Ratchet a few times about my past when I was younger, but he never really answered. Eventually, I kind of gave up wondering.)

Jazz : Forget that! This isn't about Bumblebee, it's about Highlander and Axis. Listen, Ratchet, you don't really have a choice. We can't send them to the Youth Centers. Nobot has any time to look after them, I asked already; you're my last resort. Please, Ratchet, for their sake.

Ratchet agreed, finally. Then I came out of the cupboard and asked Ratchet what that was all about. He explained that most likely, Highlander and Axis would be staying with us. Then I asked him why they'd never sent me to the Youth Centers when I was younger. Ratchet told me that Prowl could answer my question better than he could. Then he shooed me off.

I don't know whether I'm going to ask Prowl about it or not. That mech is creepy. And to be honest ('cause Ratchet told me to be honest while typing in this log) he scares me. A lot. Ever since I was three vorns old and saw him gut a Decepticon in the lab, I've been deathly afraid of the mech. But when I recounted the conversation to Highlander, she advised me to ask. Or I would never know. So I guess I will. Maybe. Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Did you ask?" wondered Wheeljack. Bumblebee smiled slightly. "I did."

"And what was the answer?"

"You'll see. It's next..." He looked at them all nervously. "Can we just skip the next chapter?" There were various cries of protest.

"You cannot leave it half told."

"No way!"

"Aw, come on, Bumblebee."

"And I thought you were one of the braver ones. Pfft."

Arcee gazed at him reassuringly. She and Ratchet were the only ones that knew about everything. "None of us will say anything about it. It's okay. Nobot here is that prejudiced. We know you, 'Bee. It's okay." Everybot made affirmative sounds.

He vented deeply. "Okay, then, prepare to be shocked."

* * *

 **Tell me how it was through a review!**


	8. Entries 13 and 14

**Here's the next chapter! Thank you, all you amazing reviewers!**

 **Game-Watch: That he may be, but Bumblebee is just a sparkling who hasn't come into contact with Prowl that much. So, with his limited view on things, Bumblebee gives him the simple title of 'creepy'. You'll see more of him here.**

 **Child of jonsnow: I'm glad you were looking forward to this! Here we go!**

 **unicron1000: Here's your update.**

 **SpiritFighter208: Wow! I 'm so happy you liked that chapter so much! Things are going to get sadder for them... It's a war, after all. It's not because of his paint... You'll see.**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: No, you're wrong. Or maybe I'm lying and you're right... You'll find out! :D**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks!**

 **Enjoy the big reveal!**

* * *

Entry #13

Today I was brave. It was the fourth solar cycle of Medic Duty Groon and all the youngling Scouting units came in. They were noisy and cocky, but some of them were really smart. That's 'cause you have to at least get basic fighting training to be inducted into the forces in any division. So all the intelligent ones who want to get into communications get into the scouts and do basic training. Once they're inducted, they switch over to communications. But at least they paid attention.

There are twelve Scouting units (half the number of Warrior units.) So we could get their classes over today, but it took almost the entire solar cycle. After that, I was allowed to have some free time. I walked into Highlander and Axis' assigned quarters. When I went in, Highlander immediately asked me whether I'd asked Prowl about my past and why they'd never sent me to the Youth Centers. I admitted that I'd thought of it in the morning, but I'd been to scared to actually go ahead and do it. Then she said, "Don't you want to know? Go, Bumblebee, or you'll never know. And you'll regret it. You really will." Then she got emotional and she started to cry.

That really shook me up, but I still felt unsure. Finally, Highlander dried her optics and suggested that she would accompany me to the Communications Center, where Prowl usually is. I agreed. So Axis, Highlander and I went to the Center. I stood outside the door, until she finally pushed me in.

Sure enough, Prowl was right inside. He looked at me as I came in and fixed his deadly optics on me. But I somehow gathered up all my courage and stood up straight, like a soldier is supposed to. Then I said, politely ('cause you can never be too careful around a mech that can gut a 'Con in two astroseconds), that I had a couple of questions and I was wondering if he had time to answer them. He sighed. Then he made me sit on a stool and wait a for a long time as he typed some stuff into the console, which made me even more nervous than before. Then he was finally ready to answer my questions.

First, I asked him who my formers were. To my shock, he told me that my carrier and sire had both been Decepticon. I just stared at him like he was crazy and waited for him to say that he was kidding so that we could both start laughing. But Prowl doesn't laugh. He doesn't kid, either, and I learned that the hard way today. He repeated it slowly and calmly, so that it settled snuggly into my processor. "So that means I'm a Decepticon?" I asked him shakily. He started grumbling about the fact that he always knew that I would ask, and Ratchet was an idiot for not telling me first off.

That's when I finally understood everything. I never went to the Youth Centers 'cause I'm a Decepticon. I'm Painted because I'm not a part of Primus 'cause Decepticons are evil and they're not like Primus who is pure and white. And now Highlander and Axis are going to hate me because I'm a Decepticon and Decepticons killed their carrier. That made me start to cry and I ran out. Prowl called out to me, but I didn't listen to him. I burst through the door and ran out. Highlander and Axis tried to call to me, too, but I didn't listen to them either.

Then I found a store cupboard and I hid in there and cried there for a while. I realized that Arcee and Sideswipe and Sunstreaker also probably secretly hate me. And now I realize that Ratchet must also secretly hate me. That makes me feel even more sad.

You're my only real friend in the world, datapad, 'cause you never judge anybot. You're always there for me no matter what, 'cause I carry you everywhere I go. And I can say anything I like to you.

I feel really tired of typing now... Bumblebee out.

* * *

Bumblebee looked around tensely, in order to view their expressions. They were mostly surprised. To his relief and eternal gratitude, none of them had angry or scandalized looks on their faceplates. Arcee flashed him a reassuring smile, which gave him the courage to go on.

* * *

Entry #14

You know what happened yesterday? Well, I think I powered down inside that store cupboard, 'cause the next thing I recall is Ratchet opening the door and telling me that it was alright, he knew that I'd be here; I always hid here whenever I was scared or upset. I asked him whether he hated me. Ratchet gave me a whack with his wrench and said that it was the furthest thing from his processor at the moment. Then Arcee, who was standing near, suggested that he probably shouldn't hit me. To my surprise, Tailgate was standing right next to her.

Ratchet gave her a look and took my digits and led me back to the sickbay. Then he told me that I should always remember that our actions determine who we are and not our faction – not even our formers do.

Then he said that he had more to tell me, and that Prowl hadn't finished the whole story and had told him to complete it.

Apparently, my sire was named Backbiter and he was the fastest mech online. He even used to give Bluestreak a run for his credits. He was so fast that his top speed is still a military secret. That makes me wonder if I'll ever be that fast. That would be AWESOME. I'd be able to beat Bluestreak and everybot else at the races. Plus, I would be able to sneak around right in front of Megatron. I'll be so fast that nobot would be able to see me.

My carrier was a good fighter (I cringe to think of what that meant to the Autobots) and she was named Thunderstorm. Our house had been in a Decepticon city called Polyhex. Polyhex was bombed and both my formers perished in the attack. I was found by a ground team, who took pity on me and sent me to the Youth Centers. But there, I was teased, abused and bullied, since I had 'Con formers. Eventually, it got reported and I was accommodated in the medibay. And, well, that was that.

I asked Ratchet if I was Painted because my formers were evil. He snorted and told me that there was no such thing. Whoever had told me that was a fool and I had been even more of a fool to believe it. Nobot hated me, since first of all, not everybot knew who my formers had been, and second of all, they knew that my mindset wasn't determined by who my formers were. That made me feel kind of ashamed for jumping all kinds of silly conclusions.

I asked Ratchet why he hadn't told me all of this before. He said that he'd thought that it would be better for me to learn about it when I was mature enough to understand. I asked whether this meant that he finally considered me mature. He said no. (Aargh!)

Then I recharged for a long time, 'cause it was late in the night. In the morning, Ratchet said that me and my friends were excused for the last solar cycle of Medic Duty Groon, so I was allowed to do as I liked. Later, Arcee came over with Highlander and Axis and suggested that we go get an energon treat. That made me feel a little better.

Along the way, though, I began to feel guilty for not telling Highlander and Axis about my formers. So I told them everything from start to finish. I decided that they had every right to hate me if they wanted to.

But to my surprise, Highlander just kind of shrugged tensely and said that Arcee had already told her all of this and that it was okay and she didn't hate me. That almost made me want to cry with relief. So I hugged her. She was surprised but hugged me back. Arcee winked at me and I glared back at her.

The rest of the solar cycle was fine. Arcee was going to buy a Black Backlash as per usual, but Axis doesn't like those (How is it even possible not to like Black Backlashes?) so we got Orange Onslaughts instead. I suggested that we go to the park again, but neither Axis nor Highlander ever wanted to go there again. It had been destroyed by the 'Cons anyway. So we mostly just wandered the city until it was time to go back home.

That made me really tired, so much that when we came back to the MCCC, I was too tired to help with all the injured 'Bots who had come in when they had staged a counterattack on Kaon. So now Ratchet is yelling at Arcee for keeping us out too long... Poor her.

Ah, well, Bumblebee out.

* * *

Bumblebee was about to press the _next_ button, but just then, Knockout began to speak. "I knew a mech named Backbiter." He said quietly. "A con through and through."

Ratchet frowned. "How is that even possible?" He questioned. "You're around the same age as Bumblebee. Even if you'd seen him, you should have been too young at the time to remember it!"

"I remember treating him." Knockout objected strongly. "When I was still in training to be a medic. I was still a sparkling at the time, since 'Cons started training earlier than 'Bots. He was angry about something and he got violent, that's why I remember him. "

"But that's simply not possible!"

"It is." corrected Arcee darkly. "It's possible, because _what if_ that ground team that found 'Bee just _assumed_ that his formers were offline, instead of checking and making sure? They would have brought 'Bee to the 'Bots anyway."

All optics rested on Bumblebee. He vented deeply. "Knockout, do you know if Backbiter could still be alive?"

Knockout made a face and shook his head. "Now that's one thing I know for sure. He died of his injuries a while after his little hissy fit."

Bumblebee looked troubled. "All these vorns, and I never knew... Any possibilities that Thunderstorm might be online? Did you ever meet her?"

Knockout shrugged a no. "Well," he said airily, "No use crying over spilt milk. Continue."

"What's milk? How did it spill?" asked Ultra Magnus curiously. Bumblebee sighed. "A white liquid. It's a human phrase. It means to, well, let it go. I'll just... go on." Ratchet patted him on the back and he pressed _next_.

* * *

 **How'd I do? Tell me in a review! (Wow, that rhymed.)**


	9. Entries 15 and 16

**Thanks to all you amazing reviewers! I got eight for the last chapter: I'm delighted to see so many people taking an interest!**

 **There are two guest reviewers known as 'Guest', so- XD**

 **Guest (April 20th): True... But this is just my attempt to tell that story - although, by the way, I have three alternative versions running around in my headcanon. It's weird. But this one is the best amongst them.**

 **Guest (April 19th): Thanks! Glad you liked it. I hope you continue reading.**

 **SpiritFighter208: Nobot is pure Autobot. Bumblebee is kind of portrayed as the embodiment of that spirit (aside from Optimus, of course) but he's not everything he's made out to be. In the show, they've portrayed him very simply, something I didn't really like. So I gave him a Decepticon past. Besides, he and Ratchet clearly have a history besides the field medic thing- he was the first to be hugged when 'Bee realized that he had gotten his voice back.**

 **Game-Watch: Yep, he was brave, but only after a lot of pushing. Still, he's growing.**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks! He's always 'supposed' to do that, so...**

 **unicron1000: Here's your update.**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know... But Bumblebee narrates this over the course of a single night, so we won't see her here... Most likely. If, of course, she wasn't one of the many casualties.**

 **child of Jon snow: Actions definitely do speak louder than CNA. Thanks, I'm glad you like it!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #15

Today was, like the twins said, "Absolutely gob-smacking 'Con-killin' sensationally slagging spectacular." We won Kalis! Can you believe that? It's the first Autobot victory in really, really long time. WE WON KALIS! (I'm still wondering what slagging means, though. And nobot is ready to tell me!) The Wreckers decided to throw a party to celebrate. Jazz helped them to jazz it up. (Did you get that? Highlander came up with that one.)

Anyway, the news that the Autobots had succeeded in getting to hold the city came in at around 1400 hours. Everybot in the medibay started cheering and hooting, even the injured ones. Then, a few moments later, news came in that the Decepticons had retreated. How awesome is that? The yelling was so loud after that, that I had to cover my audio receptors.

The party was organized in the Great Hall. I lost count of how many times Ratchet warned us not to touch the high grade before he was willing to let Axis, Highlander and I go. He threatened us that if we so much as went near it, he would have us cleaning the wash racks for an entire groon. Then he sent us to Arcee so that she could have us all ready, since he was still stuck treating the injured. I felt kind of sorry for him, but he said that he would come, just a little late. So Arcee first made us wash, then helped us to buff so that our armor was all nice and shiny. Then she got ready herself.

The party was huge. There were loads of 'Bots of all shapes and sizes milling around. It finally started at 1800 hours. Optimus Prime came in and gave a short speech, saying that while we would all like to celebrate, we should have a microcycle of silence to honor those who had fallen for our victory. So we all stood. There was complete silence in the hall. Then Optimus said that there is a time for speeches and a time for celebration and now it was the latter, so we could go enjoy ourselves. I looked at Highlander and I realized that she was crying about her carrier's death , and so was Axis. So I decided that it would be best to distract them. So we walked around for a while.

The music was ridiculously loud. We passed an area where some younglings were playing some kind of a game. They had little guns in their servos which they were using to shoot darts at each other. We asked them if we could join, too, but they refused and said that it wasn't for sparklings. The mech over there was pretty mean about it. So we continued wandering.

Then we spied the fuel counter. We got a drink each (low grade, of course!) and we walked on. There was even a counter full of energon treats. We attacked the place and cleared at least half of them, I'm sure. That distracted Highlander and Axis and they seemed a little better.

We spied Arcee sitting at a table sipping some energon, so we went over to say hi. But she seemed down. Highlander asked her if she was okay. She said that she was fine, but nobot believed her. Finally, I looked in the direction that she was staring in and I realized what the problem was. Tailgate was off dancing with another femme.

I took Axis and Highlander aside and pointed this out to them. Highlander wanted to go there right away and shout at him, but then Axis pointed out that this was technically between Arcee and Tailgate and that we shouldn't interfere. I kind of agreed, but then Highlander said that nobot deserved to be sad on a solar cycle when the Autobots had had such a huge victory. Besides, friends ought to stick up for friends.

So we went to talk to him. I pulled him out of the dancing area. Once we were on the side, Highlander told him that after the 'Cons, he was the meanest person she knew. 'Gate just rolled his optics and commented that she had an awful lot of ball bearings to be talking like that to somebot ten times stronger then her. I chipped in too, and said that he just liked Arcee for her finish and now that he'd found somebot with a better one he'd made Arcee sad.

That made him angry and he was about to shout at us when Axis cut him off, saying that if he didn't go cheer her up, she would tell Ratchet and Ratchet would come after him with his wrench. That made him zoom off pretty fast, since everybot knows that she's practically Ratchet's pet. (He just likes her because she says that she wants to be a medic when she grows up.)

Anyway, the rest of the party was pretty nice. We talked a lot and ate lots of energon goodies. Later, Axis spotted the twins and we went over and danced with them. I'm starting to like dancing. Maybe it's 'cause I realized that I'm not so bad at it after all. Axis dances okay. Highlander's really good at it, though.

So now I'm thoroughly tuckered out... I hope that the next solar cycle will be just as amazing as this one. Bumblebee out!

* * *

"I remember studying that victory." said Smokescreen excitedly. "We won mainly due to the lack of Decepticon air support."

"I've always wondered why they weren't there at the time." said Ultra Magnus thoughtfully, gazing pointedly at Knockout. Knockout shrugged. "I wasn't there. I was just a medic. They didn't tell me anything. I guess it was a need-to-know thing."

"Seriously, Knockout?" Arcee was thoroughly skeptical. "You were an important officer on board the _Nemesis_. Everybot knows that. Why bother bluffing?"

Knockout glared at her, irritated. "That was after I went there, because there were few offices left in the first place. Starscream was the one who promoted me from Chief Medical Officer to Second-In-Command while Megatron was all but offline-"

"And you attempted to kill him off properly." Arcee cut in. "I remember."

"Yes. That." He continued offhandedly, while Smokescreen, Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus stared, utterly confused. "Then I was obviously demoted when he came back to life with the help of your little scout."

"Bumblebee? What is he talking about?" Ultra Magnus asked, scandalized. 'Bee sighed."It's a story for another time. Besides, it wasn't my fault. I'll tell you later." He was secretly hoping they'd forget about it as he continued. They did.

* * *

Entry #16

Today Ratchet was on edge. Since we captured Kalis just yesterday, there's been another tiny lull in the War. Both sides are recuperating, especially the Decepticons. Ratchet's predicted that the peace won't last, though. When there's a small break like this, everybody keeps tensing up like there's a grenade around somewhere, about to blow. You can just feel it in the air.

There was a huge electrical acid storm today. It started in the early morning and went on for the rest of the solar cycle, so we couldn't even go out and do anything interesting. There were no battles. It's as if even the Decepticons got bored today. Maybe they were feeling depressed 'cause they lost. Ratchet didn't have anything much to do, either. So he tried to give us some extra medical training.

That got so boring that eventually Highlander told Ratchet straight off that she wasn't getting a word he was saying, was utterly bored and didn't want to do a thing more. She has guts. I would have never have had the grit to do that. Ratchet blew a gasket, 'cause he wasn't used to being spoken to like that. That scared Axis into crying, who is usually Ratchet's pet. So it just turned into a big mess.

A little while later, Prowl came in and told Ratchet that he had an order for him from Optimus Prime himself. That's when I suddenly realized that I'm not so scared of him any more since Highlander pushed me into asking him about my origins. Now I feel glad that she did. I really am a bit of a wimpy little sparkling sometimes. Just a bit.

Anyway, Prowl announced to Ratchet that since there was nothing especially important to do today, he wanted him to check Highlander and Axis' (I like putting that little apostrophe at the end. It looks so cool. But Highlander says it looks elitist and stupid. Hmm. Axis'. Axis'. Axis'. Never mind.) biological ages. Ratchet pointed out that this would be much easier if they just looked in the records or even asked them when they were sparked.

But Prowl said that he couldn't access the records since Praxus, the city they're from, has been destroyed. Besides, it was better to check medically, since they wanted to create a new record altogether for them, in order to move their status up from 'refugee' to 'Iaconian citizen'. That made Ratchet angry, 'cause they'd never asked Highlander and Axis whether they wanted to become citizens or not. That didn't make any sense to me. Why would anybot not want to be a citizen instead of a refugee? But then I learned that a citizen like me has to undergo compulsory military training in some form when I become a youngling, whether I like it or not. You have to become an Autobot. You can't even be a neutral. That's why so many Iaconians are Autobots. The rest are lawbreakers.

That seems unfair to me. I mean, shouldn't everybot have a choice? Even if the 'Cons are evil, you still deserve to choose. Ratchet always says, "I may not agree with what you choose, but I'll defend your right to choose to my death." and he said it now. Prowl just glared at him and pointed out that this law, made after the 'Cons were officially recognized by the High Council, was part of the reason that the Autobots had enough forces to resist the Decepticons in the first place. But I don't think that's right. If we take away the right to choose, how are we any different from the Decepticons? Prowl and Ratchet then started arguing really loudly.

Finally, Highlander shouted that she was okay with it and it was fine if she and Axis became citizens. Ratchet reminded her that this is a decision she can't take on her own 'cause they're both still sparklings. But Prowl said that it was the rule and so it didn't matter whether they agreed or not. So Ratchet was to find their biological ages for the record, and this time, it was an order. So he did it, but he wasn't very happy about it.

We found out that Highlander is a bit less than half a stellar cycle older than me (and much more older than me in maturity, she said. I told her to shut up.) Axis is four vorns younger than I am. That means that Highlander's almost the same age as I am, 'cause as everybot knows, one vorn is equal to 12 stellar cycles and she's nine stellar cycles old, like I am. Weird, huh? She'll be a youngling soon, when she turns ten vorns old. And then she'll be shipped off to the training centers and Axis and I will be completely bored, 'cause we'll only have each other to play with. But then I'll become a youngling after that and poor Axis will be left all alone.

...And that was the most interesting thing that happened today. Nothing much happened after that. Arcee paid us a visit and we talked for a bit, but she had to leave pretty soon for some indoor exercises. Then Ratchet forced us to do some more chores. Then we got bored again. Then we just decided to go recharge, 'cause there wasn't anything for us to do. By then, Ratchet was complaining about how we wanted something interesting to do every moment and how we wouldn't be able to sit still even if he paid us to do it. I could, I think. I don't know about Highlander and Axis, but I could. But I don't think Ratchet would pay me for it anyway.

I hope that tomorrow will be exciting again like yesterday. Then again, I suppose we couldn't have a party every single solar cycle. If we did, we'd get bored of those, too. Well, Bumblebee out.

* * *

"That was such a boring solar cycle." Wheeljack grumbled. "Yes, well, some ones are boring and some are exciting." Bumblebee pointed out. "Anyway, apart from that, I stopped after I wrote this entry-"

Bulkhead's optics widened. "You mean that that's it? You stopped writing?"

"Is that the end?" chimed in Smokescreen. "How anticlimatic." added Knockout.

"Not permanently." Bumblebee cut in, annoyed at their interruption. "Just for two groons. Then I started again. Cut me some slack, those times were depressing. You 'Cons-"(adressing Knockout) "-were going slow but steady, the result of which was that far more 'Bots were going in the medibay than were coming out."

"And support for the Decepticons was at its zenith."Continued Ratchet. "Morale was low, and there were even traitors and deserters within the Autobot ranks."

"But why?" asked Smokescreen curiously. "I mean, we'd just scored a major victory. We captured Kalis. Morale should have been high."

"True." agreed Ultra Magnus. "But if you studied the history of Kalis thereafter - or experienced the whole fiasco, as I did - you would know that the Autobot had few resources to manage the city. To capture an area is very different from holding it. A lot of resources, including energon, were caught up in red tape and corruption and wasted. Most of the population ended up in Iacon as refugees. The newly awakened High Council ordered a probe once the scam came out into the open, which reached a dead end, and was eventually forgotten as the War grew steadily worse. It was a sad affair."

Bumblebee sighed. "Well, let's go on." He pressed the _next_ button.

* * *

 **What did you think? Please review so that I know what you thought about it!**


	10. Entries 17 and 18

**Hey! Sorry for the wait, but I wasn't able to post on Friday or Saturday due to unforseen circumstances and yesterday... Well, I thought I might as well just post like usual on Monday. Thanks to all reviewers!**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks! Here it is!**

 **SpiritFighter208: Crazy indeed. Bumblebee and Axis probably wouldn't have dared to do that without Highlander pushing them along, though. :) Bumblebee will explain what has happened. Here we go!**

 **Game-Watch: Yes! But it wasn't the High Councils fault...for once. It was the Autobot machinery that held things up there. Meh... I 'm talking as though it actually happened. XD**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: Definitely.**

 **unicron1000: Here's your update.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Entry #17

I am so sorry – Wait, why do I keep apologizing to you, a non-sentient datapad? It's not like you could even hear or read what I'm typing. And even if you could, it's not like you could accept my apology. No... I guess that what I mean is to really apologize to myself. 'Cause it's been _two groons_ since I typed in this log. Yeah, I know, I'm an idiot. But, well, I just couldn't find anything to type about. I would sit and stare at this datapad and wonder what I was going to type. Everything has just been so... depressing. Not to mention routine. I was just bored of typing. But I finally made myself do it today.

Since we captured Kalis, Vos has been destroyed. Completely. Razed to the ground. Like Nova Cronum and Praxus. I saw a few pictures. It wasn't a pretty sight. I hate it. I hate this stupid War. I wish it would go away.

After that, there have been a few skirmishes over territory to the south of Kalis. There are no cities there, just a few small towns. But bots are saying that the Decepticons are just taking advantage of that. They're raiding and torturing the residents, while they keep us occupied with regular and random attacks on Protihex. So far, we've managed to hold it. Protihex has always been one of the few Autobot cities. They supported the cause almost from the start.

But it's been tough. There are new faces in the medibay almost every solar cycle and Ratchet keeps saying that he's worried that we'll run out of supplies, especially of medical energon. Though I think the real reason that Ratchet is worried is because Protihex is his hometown. In general, morale is low. Even Highlander has quit complaining about medical duties. We just work, work, work and then drop down on our berths, exhausted.

Still, today, there's something good, something to celebrate. Highlander is now officially a youngling! Well, technically, she became one almost a groon ago, but we didn't have time to celebrate it then. So we did it today. Ratchet told us that becoming a youngling is not usually celebrated amongst the lower castes, but the upper and elite castes do celebrate it and we ought to honor tradition in any case.

So at about 1500 hours, after making sure there wouldn't be any more attacks for a while, he made Highlander sit down on a berth and all of us gathered round. Ratchet tried to get Arcee and the twins to come, too, since they know us well, but they were all on patrol. So it was just Axis, Ratchet and the rest of the medics, a few random passing Autobots who seemed kind of interested, and I.

Ratchet recited a couple of verses from the Covenant. He said, "I bow to Primus, the omnipresent, the origin of the spark, eternal, unexpressed, yet the root of all things in this world." Then he said, "Let the Hadeen accept her, let Primus accept her, let the Allspark accept her in this world." Then he said a lot of boring stuff about responsibilities and duties and rights, which was kind of boring. It was all in older Cybertronian. I couldn't understand all of it, but Ratchet has taught me a little, so I got some parts.

At the end of it, he said, "May you bless this youngling, that when she is named, none will be able to harm her; that she will have a long life; that she will grow up to be a blessing for this world." Everybot looked at him, surprised, 'cause those are the words that are generally used for sparkling naming ceremonies. (He obviously changed the 'sparkling' in it to 'youngling'.)

He explained that that Autobots were proponents of freedom, and one of those freedoms was of being able to choose a name for oneself. After they had become Autobots, or Autonomous Robots, (I've always wondered what Autobot stands for!), many chose to shed their caste given names and assumed a new identity. So he was simply giving her the same chance. Everybot nodded in approval.

Highlander looked a little lost. She hadn't been expecting it. So everybot started bombarding her with suggestions and nobot could get them to shut up. So I finally told her in her audio receptors that she could even stay Highlander if she wanted to. In the end, she decided that she'd rather stay Highlander after all, but by that time, nobot was ready to listen to her. Finally, after a lot of shouting, it passed through to their audio receptors. Ratchet asked her if she was absolutely sure if she wanted to keep it the same, 'cause it wasn't very likely that she would get another chance. But she was firm.

So we concluded it by saying 'Highlander' three times in succession, all together. Then Windshield, an old medic who's always nice to us, distributed little energon treats amongst us. They were small, the kind you get for half a credit each, but they were nice. And that was that.

Later, Secant, a 'Bot from communications, dropped in, and told us that Highlander is scheduled to go to the training centers tomorrow. She seems super excited, but Axis and I are kind of down about it, 'cause it's pretty likely that we'll never see her again. At least, not very soon. I might, since I'll become a youngling soon, too, but Axis won't. But we tried not to show it, 'cause that would just make her sad. But I still made her promise to comm. me and Axis every groon. Then Ratchet started yelling at us about how we had been supposed to power down an entire breem ago. So we went to recharge.

I hope that Highlander will find a new home and new friends at the training camp she's going to. I hope that she'll be happy. 'Cause the MCCC is going to be lonely without her. And now I'm crying. Kind of. It's just -

I mean, she's always been an awesome friend. She always lights the place up. And she taught me not to be afraid. That's the most important thing, I think.

I wish she wasn't going... But then I suppose that saying that would be selfish and kind of stupid. It's like wishing that you would never grow up and remain a sparkling forever. Sometimes I wish that, too. Growing up isn't all they say it is. You have more freedom... but you might die, too. Just saying.

Let it be, I'm too tired to think much any more. I'm slipping into power down. Bumblebee out.

* * *

Entry #18

Today was sad. Highlander left early today at 0600 hours. Secant, the communications bot from yesterday, came to fetch her. For some reason, she didn't seem as excited as she had been before. I think it was because she realized that she would have to leave Axis behind. She and Axis are Well Born and so they only had a carrier. Now that she's dead, they're all they've got.

She hugged me and Axis tight, and Ratchet too, much to his surprise. Then she made me promise to look after Axis. I did. I thought that Highlander was going to cry – Axis was already crying – but Secant started getting impatient, so she steeled herself and left. It felt kind of depressing, watching her leave from the dim medibay.

After that, Ratchet decided that it was no use moping. So he made us do some preliminary work in the medibay while he went off to visit some patients. Preliminary work consists of all the cleaning that we're supposed to do before the patients get in. When I was younger, Ratchet used to make me get up early and do it, but I hate getting up before sunrise and I used to make a big fuss about it. So now he usually either does it himself or tells some unlucky medic to do it. It's boring work, but it took my processor off of Highlander, at least. Even Axis stopped crying, though she still wasn't as cheerful as she normally is. I feel sorry for her.

Later on, there was another attack on Protihex. It was obvious that this one was on a much greater scale than all the previous attacks. There were tons of 'Bots in the medibay. I remember one femme observing wryly that there was as much chaos in the sickbay as there was on the battlefield. There were tons of patients streaming in and not half enough medics to treat them all. It was crazy.

I thought that Axis would freak out like I used to, but she didn't. She just became even more calm and composed than before. Medics were making us dash left, right and the other way round as their assistants, but she didn't lose her calm once. She's weird.

There weren't that many survivors this time. Everybot is worried, because defending Protihex is leading to a huge drop in resources. The 'Cons have resorted to guerrilla warfare, since they have the advantage 'cause most of Protihex is surrounded by low hills. They strike quickly, sometimes all at once (like now) and then disappear into thin air.

Still, it was pretty late by the time the attack ended and they saved all the patients that could be saved and ended the misery of the others. That got me thinking, that if I die in battle, I want to die quickly. Not screaming or in horrible pain, or even slowly with no pain. It should just be so fast that I don't even know that I'm dying before I'm dead. I don't care how it happens. When I told this to Ratchet later, he got mad and told me that this isn't a very healthy topic to be thinking about. But why? I mean, we all have to die at some point, right? Might as well think about it in advance.

Anyway, I asked Ratchet whether we could go out somewhere, 'cause we haven't done anything like that in a really long time. He thought about it for a while, but said no because there was still cleaning up and other chores to do in the medibay, and plus, it was already pretty late. I hate this stupid war.

I think Ratchet figured that Axis and I were feeling kind of down in general, so when almost everything was done, he let us take a break to go talk to Arcee in her room before recharge. That was nice of him, but it really makes me wonder how often somebot does something nice like that for him. He's always on duty and never ever takes a break. But he still makes sure everybot else gets a good rest. Ratchet's nice that way.

When we got to Arcee's quarters, we talked with her for a while. She said that she was soon going to be posted on active duty, even though it's a general policy not to have younglings on active duty. She explained that since the Autobots are starting to feel the causalities, they're bringing out the younger 'Bots who are still in training. That sounds like a pointless policy to me. You're throwing untrained 'Bots at the enemy, 'cause you don't have enough trained ones. But then it occurred to me that Prowl, the chief tactician, knows more about it than I do, so I shouldn't judge. Maybe. Or maybe I'm right and he's being dumb.

On that note... Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Was it a dumb decision?" Smokescreen wondered.

"Well, not really, no." Wheeljack answered lazily. "It seemed like a stupid idea at the time, but it gave a great boost to Autobot forces. There was actually a time when it seemed like we might win, though that happened much after the law was passed."

Arcee made a face. "That law basically ruined my life. But it worked. Go on, 'Bee." So he did.

* * *

 **How is it? Please review and let me know!**


	11. Entries 19 and 20

**Thanks to all reviewers!**

 **Guest: Nice to hear that!**

 **Game-Watch: It'll end, sadly. You'll see.**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks! I'm glad to know you're liking it.**

 **SpiritFighter208: Definitely getting intense... Both factions are starting to cross the lines they've set for themselves. Maybe Axis could be a medic. Glad you were looking forward to the update!**

 **unicron1000: Here's your update.**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: Yep. You'll see.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #19

Today was fun. Today was a rare day, too. No invasions or attacks or anything like that, can you believe it? We kept waiting for something to happen, but it never did, thank goodness. Still, the suspense nearly killed us.

When Axis and I got up from recharge (she recharges in my room now, 'cause Highlander left and she's afraid of powering down all alone) Ratchet immediately assigned us to work. We started with measuring out the needed quantities of medical grade and storing them in a small cart, while Ratchet visited a few critical patients from yesterday. I got bored halfway through, but Axis just kept on going. And going. And going. She's crazy!

Then when we were done, Ratchet came back and gave us another task. And after that, another. And another. Finally, in the afternoon, I got bored and I begged him to let me go and play with Arcee or something. After a lot of pleading, he let me go, but not before telling me to look at how nicely Axis was doing all her work without protest. I asked Axis if she wanted to come play. _She actually had to think about it! She's abnormal!_

Finally, I threatened that I would start calling her Buckethead if she didn't come ('cause her head does actually look a bit like a bucket) and she came. Ratchet tried to scold me about how I was being mean, but we were out of the room before he could say too much.

We headed straight to Arcee's room, but she wasn't there. We asked a femme passing by and she answered that Arcee was in the training room, in a giggly tone. Axis asked her what she trying not to laugh about, but she didn't answer and left. That confused both Axis and me, but we went over to the training room anyway.

I've never been to the training room except for once or twice when I was really little, so we had to ask a couple of 'Bots for directions. When we finally got there, almost everybot was gone from there, 'cause it was time for break. Only Arcee was left, leaning against the door frame. I was surprised to see Tailgate with her. I thought that he didn't like her that much. Apparently, he does. He was standing in front of her in the training room, holding a huge weight and telling her something about how he and another bot named Juncture had been sneaking up on a 'Con on the battlefield. He was gloating a lot and most of it seemed kind of exaggerated.

If Highlander had been here, she would have told him that, but since she wasn't, Axis and I just stood and listened to his ridiculous tale. I didn't know why Arcee didn't just roll her optics and leave, until Axis asked me why Arcee was smirking like she was crazy. Then we all found out: Tailgate had been holding that weight for far too long. It slipped from his digits. The weight fell down onto his pede and he yowled. Arcee started laughing and so did we.

He stared at us, annoyed, and demanded whether anybot was going to help him up from the floor. Arcee told him that he deserved it for being such an idiot to her all morning. He pleaded, 'cause that weight had been heavy and walking – or getting up – would be extremely painful, 'cause of the dent in his armor. Finally, Axis took pity on him and we helped him up. He hobbled into the medibay under our support, where Ratchet gave him a nice long lecture, but we didn't bother waiting to listen to most of it. We decided to go out, to this little park that we had found tucked away in Iacon's older sections.

Arcee sat down on a bench on the side. I asked Axis if she wanted to play Hide-And-Go-Shriek, but she pointed that there were only the two of us and so it would be boring. So we stood thinking for a while about what we could do, until Axis suggested that we play a new game called Autobot-Autobot. I asked her what that was, since I've never heard of it. She just gave me a look and told me that we were going to pretend to be Autobots and she was a Wrecker and I was a scout. (Why am I always a scout? It's not even like she's big enough to be a Wrecker!)

Then she said that Arcee was a Decepticon. Then she commanded the 'scout' to see how many 'Cons there were and report back on the situation. I figured that this game would be fun, so I went along with it.

I crept up to Arcee from the back. She didn't even notice. Then I reported back to the Wrecker. "Only one 'Con." So she yelled, "Charge!" and we sprang towards the unwary Decepticon and wrestled with her till she was on her back and we were sitting on top. Then we asked her to submit. Arcee just laughed and tried to push us off. And we wrestled some more.

I haven't had so much fun in vorns.

Axis told me that she and Highlander used to play that game all the time, but then Highlander grew up and thought that it was stupid. But I think that it's fun to play once in a while, at least. Whenever Arcee isn't suspecting it.

When we came back to the MCCC, Ratchet freaked out at the state of our armor. It was covered with dust and scratches. But for once, I didn't really care. It was worth it. He told us to wash ourselves and head off straight to our berths. I haven't done that yet. I think probably should, though, 'cause I feel pretty tired... Well, then, Bumblebee out.

* * *

 **Entry #20**

Highlander is offline. I saw her frame slowly turn gray as her optics dimmed and faded out. I saw it... and I'll never forget it.

The morning started out fine. There was an attack on Iacon's east side. They always target the east side. I don't know why. Anyway, it wasn't too bad, because we'd been tipped off earlier by one of our spies. So we managed to push it to a victory. Thankfully, only a few were injured.

Then, in the afternoon, we began to get reports that the Nuon city training center had been bombed to the ground and their medibays were unable to cope with the inflow of patients. That made me immediately think of Highlander, 'cause that's were she had gone. I could see that Axis looked a little worried too. Ratchet and the rest of the medics were called upon to give medical assistance. He wanted to make Axis and I stay at the MCCC, but we begged so much that he eventually let us come along.

That was the first time that I have ever been through a groundbridge. It's this huge mass of floating particles of hannitrons (I'm not really sure what those are) which give out photons (not sure what those are, either) which create blue, green and purple lights while transporting us to our destination. (That's what Ratchet said, anyway. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. He's freaky sometimes.)

So we went through. It gave me an odd tingly feeling when we got to the other side. And then we saw a sight of utter destruction. There were little bits of blackened walls left, but they were about to fall down. There was rubble everywhere. A cloud of ash and dust hung over us all. Ratchet muttered that the 'Cons had pulled an underhand move. They'd crossed the line.

We started walking, when I heard something crunch under my pede. I removed it and I saw... I saw that it was an _optic_. And everybot else was just walking on through the haze.

A little further, we came upon a youngling who had been _cut in half_. Energon was leaking out from the upper portion of his frame. I don't even know how he was even alive. Axis ran to Ratchet. She wondered why they were all walking on and begged him to save the mech. He told her that he was beyond saving. Then he made me hold on to her servo and told me to lead her away, and that he'd be back in a moment. So I did. Later, when he came back, his blades were out and the tips had energon on them. I – I think Ratchet killed that mech.

He's done that before, in the medibay. He'd explained that it ends the pain and the sparks rejoin with the Allspark, to be sparked again. But this was different. It was more... real. It was all very vivid. It was my first time on the battlefield today. I don't ever want to go there again.

Finally, we reached the makeshift sickbays. There were only a few medics there and loads of patients. Most were just lying on the ground, 'cause there weren't any salvageable berths left in the bombing. Ratchet started giving orders for them to be transported right away. We ran through to try and find Highlander, but we couldn't see her anywhere. That made Axis cry. She had been really brave up till then, but now she broke down. I almost cried, too, but then I remembered that Ratchet's always telling me to use my processor. So I did.

I figured that all the medics that I knew would be from Iacon, so the unknown ones would be from Nuon. So if I could find one like that, he might lead us to Highlander. So I dragged Axis through all the medics until I spotted one that I didn't know. I asked her if she had seen a bulky green and white femme. But she hadn't seen anybot like that. She started to question us about why we were here and everything. So we escaped from her and asked another femme. She led us right to the spot.

Highlander was lying down on the ground. We rushed towards her and she smiled when she saw us crouching down next to her. She asked us whether she was in a dream cycle. We told her that she wasn't. Axis wanted to hug her, but I was afraid that it might make her condition worse, so I held her back. I told Highlander that it would be okay; Ratchet would patch her up as good as new.

She said, "He can't do that. I'm gone, Bumblebee, I'm gone."

That finally made me cry.

She made me promise to look after Axis. Then we hugged her one last time. Then she joined the Allspark. I think it was painful at the end, 'cause she got this really odd look on her face before she finally offlined.

Then we just sat down and cried. And cried. And cried.

Bumblebee out

* * *

"I'm not going any further than this." said Bumblebee. He was almost shaking. "I... I thought I might be able to read through the whole thing, but... Some memories are just not meant to be relived." He said bitterly. "And besides... The next entries are very depressing."

There was silence for a few moments.

"How about we read the entries after that?" suggested Wheeljack. Bumblebee shook his helm. He appeared to have been drained of all his enthusiasm and the good old Bumblebee fighting spirit.

"'Bee," started Arcee tentatively, "How about I read for a while? Would that make you feel better?"

Bumblebee did not reply for a long moment. Then he finally passed the datapad to her. "Start with the thirty-fourth. Or actually, the thirty-third. That's fine, too."

"But what happened between the twentieth and the forty-third?" Smokescreen demanded. "Or are you not going to tell us?"

Bumblebee sighed and began in a flat tone. "Axis was obviously shaken at Highlander's death and refused to speak for a pretty long time. When she did, she blamed me for bringing them to the MCCC, because she reasoned that if if that had never happened, Highlander might have still been alive. Eventually Arcee managed to make her see reason. But that didn't happen for a long time and Axis all but gave up speaking to me. The end result was that I began to blame myself, too. They weren't very fun times."

" But you said that when the War started up, refugees poured into Iacon and you got somebot to play with." Smokescreen pointed out. "Didn't that make you happy?"

Ratchet took up the narrative, seeing as Bumblebee wasn't in much of a mood to answer. "That may be true, but from what I can remember of those times, there were only two. Axis avoided them and Bumblebee followed her, though she was the younger of the two."

'Bee gave him a look. "What? It's true! You followed her like a – what did the humans call June?"

"A helicopter mom?"

"Exactly." There were several snickers. "Just start reading already!" Bumblebee protested.

"Alright, alright." Arcee pressed the next button thirteen times, until she had skipped to the thirty-third entry. "Here we go..."

* * *

 **What did you feel about Highlander's death? How were these two entries? Tell me in a review!**


	12. Entries 33 and 34

**Here are the next entries! Thanks to the lovely reviewers and their lovely reviews:**

 **SpiritFighter208: Sucks indeed. They might meet him again... I don't know. It's not likely, but I won't say that it's not a possibility.**

 **BatFormer1138: I always imagined that he'd know how it feels to be a helicopter mom. Thanks, I'm glad you're liking it!**

 **Game-Watch: I know, right? But had to happen (Loss is necessary for character development and growing up, I'm afraid.) Besides, he also seems like he's lost a few. Cherish the moments you have. Wise words.**

 **child of Jon snow: Don't worry, these next entries aren't depressing. 'Bee's just going through a phase. To answer your question, the morality of euthanasia is greatly debated. There are different laws in different countries. In Australia (you're from Australia, right?) it's illegal. The Wikipedia article 'Euthanasia in Australia' would probably tell you more. On the battlefield, with little hope (especially for a bot who was wounded like I described), it would be a very complex decision. Consider: in the second episode of TFP, Arcee lets Cliffjumper, who has a similar injury, fall to the ground. No effort is made to save him. (He's blown to smithereens later, but that's not the point.)**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Thanks! Will do.**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: I'm sorry it wasn't up to the mark. I'll try to be more careful in the future. I'm glad you told me, though! :)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #33

I hate my life. I really do. I hate the Decepticons and the Autobots and this whole fragging War but I have no alternative but to go out and fight 'cause the 'Bots are stupid and losing and I have to go anyway even though I'm still a sparkling and I could get hurt or killed and I don't even have an alt-mode yet and – and – and-

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little. But it's still stupid.

I won't be on the front lines or anything, I'll be going to training. 'Cause they think that I'm useless sitting in the sickbay and doing nothing. (It's not like I do nothing. I help Ratchet treat injured 'Bots! That's something!)

But the thought of going out onto the battlefield sickens me in the first place. I've been there once, and that's more than enough. The War can go to the Pit.

But then again, if that happens, I'll be going with it, so I suppose that it's better to do as you're told sometimes, like Ratchet says. So that's that.

Secant came to fetch me from the medibay, just as he'd come for Highlander, three groons ago. He had this permanently disgusted look on his faceplates, as though this was all a waste of time. I think that he's recently been promoted, so he thinks that he's above errands like these. I just hugged Axis a little – she was stiff about it, but I could tell that she was feeling bad inside. Then, to my surprise Ratchet hugged me and told me to make sure that I never came to the medibay again – not injured, at least. Then he kind of tore up. He wasn't crying, but he seemed like he was about to cry.

Some of the other medics put in a kind word, too, 'cause they're the only bots I've known like family. They've watched me grow up and some of them told me so and said that they'd miss me. I hope they will.

I'm kind of worried about Axis, though. Now she'll be all alone. There are two other younglings, but they might leave any time. Besides, I don't think she likes them very much. She'll have to recharge all alone, too. I hope that she won't get scared. Sometimes she has nightmares about Highlander. Now she won't have anybot to cry with, either. I told her to be brave, but I don't know how far she'll follow up on that order.

Finally, Secant started scowling worse than ever since I was wasting time, according to him. So we left.

I've been assigned to the training center in Kalis. The Nuon center was bombed and the city was trashed by a couple of Chompazoids. So the ones at Kalis and in the acid wastelands are the only functional ones left. I thought that we would go there by groundbridge, but that takes up a lot of energon, so we went by transport ship. By 'we', I mean all the new Autobots. Most of them are actually adults, but there are a few younglings, too. I'm the only sparkling. Most of them aren't paying much attention to me. I'm also the smallest by frame. And so I'm writing this in the ship, 'cause I don't know when I'll get another chance to type.

This journey is taking forever. I asked the pilot when we'll get there and he said that there are two more entire cycles to go. It's annoying me now. I didn't even take anything from the center except for this datapad and an energon sweet that Arcee hastily pressed into my digits when she learned that I was going. The scenery outside is boring, too. We just passed through Protihex. Now there are all the bronze hills that surround Protihex, casting deep shadows and making everything look dark and murky.

Wait! Hadeen is rising! I can see it coming up over a faraway hill. The sky has turned green and purple. The other bots are noticing. They're coming to see it from the windows. It looks absolutely beautiful. Hadeen itself is dark yellow. The sky around it is pale electromagnetic green... Highlander's color. Then there are tinges of blue which fade into a deep violet.

There are little green clouds on the horizon. That is so weird! I've never seen green clouds before. I asked the mech whose faceplates were pressed to the glass next to mine why they are green. He said that they just look like that because of the light. They're actually red and purple like normal.

You know what, I'm going to type less and stare more. I've never seen a sunrise before! But I don't think I'll forget this one in a hundred million vorns. Bumblebee out.

* * *

"How come you had never seen a sunrise before?" wondered Wheeljack. "What was wrong with you?"

Bumblebee shrugged sheepishly. "I didn't get out much. It's all his fault." He added, pointing at Ratchet. The medic snorted. "If you had really wanted to see one, you should have gone to the MCCC rooftops. Don't point digits at me."

"I think you were mentally afflicted." Knockout asserted. "Never seen a sunrise before. Pfft."

"Okay, that's enough." Arcee warned. She pressed _next_ and began to read.

* * *

Entry #34

Today was tiring. We finally arrived at the training center at about 1000 cycles. Then the head mech (we're supposed to call him Sir, but his real name is Sandblast) made us all stand perfectly still, in a straight line, arranged by height. I was last. He came up to me and asked me a few questions, like my age, where I had lived, whether my formers were alive or not and so on. Then he made us all do a couple of tests.

The first was running. There was a huge circular track. One round on the track makes one klick. But technically, all these are younglings with some adults, so why do they need to practice running? I don't get it. The next test was agility. How fast you can run to and from two stones placed one-fourth of a klick apart. Next were jumps. How high you can go and how far. I was last in all of these, too. The adults had a clear advantage, 'cause they were older. They were mostly first. Then the younglings. And then me.

Then the last four tests were about transformation, like shooting and target practice, transform-ups, racing on the track in vehicle mode and shooting in vehicle mode. Obviously, I couldn't participate in any of those, since sparkling T-cogs are not fully developed. So I had to stand aside with the Sir. It's not fair!

After that, we had a break for drinking energon and resting for a little while. I wanted to go and talk to them, but most were too tired out to say much. So I just stood by myself and sipped quietly. At the MCCC, all the medics took their energon together. It was like a break for them. A lot of them used to be really quiet and talk little, but everybot knew their real side that we saw at break. It was fun.

I miss the MCCC already.

After about a cycle's rest, we were called up to the Hall. When we went there, I realized that all the divisions were already there. When we came in with the Sir, they all hushed up their talking and stared at us. The Sir led us to the front and started to announce which unit we would be going in. We were standing heightwise, so I was last. I was really nervous.

When my name was called, everybot started to stare at me. I think they noticed that I'm actually a sparkling, 'cause sparkling armor is soft and reflects the light differently. They started to mutter among themselves. The Sir noticed this and told them harshly to shut up. Then he put me in Scout Team II. Scout Team II? I was expecting something along the lines of Scout Team XII! I'm not good enough for II! Scout Team II is the second-best scout team. I'll never be able to keep up with them. I started to protest, but the Sir yelled at me to do as I was told and stand with my unit. So I went. I got a lot of angry looks.

It was late, so we were told to go to our dorms and recharge. So I walked with Scout Team II to our room. Each unit gets their on room in the dormitory. Ours is on the first floor. The room has as many berths as there are bots in the unit (each scouting unit has six, so ours has six berths) and a small table with drawers for all the bots to keep personal possessions in. And that's pretty much it. There are common washracks on the second floor.

As soon as we came in, my unit made me sit down on a berth and started firing questions at me. It made me feel scared, 'cause they were all bigger than me. Finally, the leader pushed them all aside and told them to shut up. Then she asked me my name. I answered that it was Bumblebee. Then she introduced everybot else. There are three femmes and two mechs. The leader's name is Giga. The rest are Cloudburst and Quicksilver (the femmes), and Traction and Shadow (the mechs).

Then she asked me whether I had done really good in the initiation tests. But I had come last in all of them, and I told her so. She made a face. I figured something really bad was coming now, but she said: "Okay. The Sir has put you here for some reason that only he knows, and he may be an idiot-" there was a lot of murmuring "-but it is what it is. So let's make the best of it. There are only three rules here that you have to know and follow.

(1) You report to me. On the field, you report to the Sir, but off it you report to me and me only. Unity and loyalty are essential in the unit. Anybot messes with you – and they will, believe me – you tell me. Nobot else.

(2)Drawers are personal. Under no circumstances may you touch anybot else's drawer. If you have to, well, don't get caught. And,

(3)The Rule of Calling: If somebot calls something, it's theirs. No questions asked. If you're gunning for a target and you don't call, and somebot else does, then it's theirs. You have to switch to the next."

It's a pretty weird set of rules, but I guess I'll get used to them... I suppose it's kind of like their code of honor.

And (4)-" Here somebot interrupted her and pointed out that there were only three. "I know, but this is a special rule for Bumblebee. Listen up, rusty. You're in Scout Team II. You may not have to be the best, but at least second best. There are standards to maintain. You have to keep up, because we're not going to wait for you. You understand me?"

I said that I did. Then she told Cloudburst to show me my drawer and berth. I put my energon treat in the drawer, but I decided to keep this datapad in my subspace, so that it's always with me. Then Cloudburst showed me my berth. Giga said, "Lights out!" and the lights turned off. (Voice recognition! How cool is that?)

And now I'm typing this, just before I recharge... Bumblebee out.

* * *

 **So, what did you think? Will poor little 'Bee survive this new place? Review and tell me your thoughts!**

 **On a side note, I won't be posting till next to next Wednesday (the 11nth) because I won't have access to my home computer. So bye for now!**


	13. Entries 35 and 36

**Hello! I'm back. Sorry for the long wait, but I was out of town. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!**

 **Game-Watch: Chompazoids! BD Figured I might as well mention them since Nuon city is not mentioned anywhere in the aligned novels.**

 **SpiritFighter208: The team will figure it out, but things will be rough for 'Bee till then... Ratchet and 'Bee are adorable, yeah.**

 **tfpfangirl10: This is a chapter, as you can see. I need to finish this story in order to write a sequel! This one's not quite over yet.**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: I know, right? Makes you think that you and I lead very comfortable lives.**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: He will, as you can see from the parts where the log is being read out... :) But whether he will survive in one piece is a different question entirely.**

 **child of Jon snow: Definitely not fun for poor 'Bee.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #35

Whoa! This is the thirty-fifth entry. Isn't that crazy? When I started writing this I'd never dreamed that I would get this far. Kind of like when I was four vorns old, I never thought that I would actually grow up. I mean, I wanted to, but it just seemed like a dream. I didn't think that it would actually come true.

Well, I'm grown up now, and not really liking it. We have a tough schedule. First, we wake up at 06:00 cycles and head to the washracks. Then come warm-ups and transformups, then running, then a march going deep into the Hydraux plateau (which is the most boring and draining thing on Cybertron), plus the march back. After all that, we have a short break for energon, followed by theory for a while. The topic is supposed to vary each solar cycle, though today it was about ship mantainance, how long range scopes work and the first chapter of _A Trainee's Guide to Battlefield Mechanisms_. It was boring to read that all over again.

Then we have something called Practicals. That involves shooting, building speed and agility, target practice with lots of different types of weapons controlling ships and lots more that I don't remember. Today we had agility practice. Since I'm in scouting, I don't think we'll experience much more than basic combat training, but I'm still looking forward to it. After that, we have Assembly and then break for half a cycle before we finally get to recharge.

I think that my team officially hates me, though. I just can't keep up with them. In anything. Except for maybe theory classes, but that's different. Warm ups were okay, but then anybot can do warm-ups.(Except for maybe Axis. If she were here, she'd be way worse than me.) In running, I was last, again. So I had to do three more rounds as punishment.

In marching, you're just supposed to walk and walk and walk without saying a single word or falling out of line. It's kind of stupid. I asked the Sir why we have to do something so aimless every single solar cycle, but he just yelled a me to shut up and do as I was told. So I did. I nearly fell down several times in the process, and Shadow, who was behind me, got really angry at me and started yelling at me the nanoclick the march was over. I even got rapped several times for not being able to walk in cadence. But I did it, somehow.

The energon here tastes different. Cloudburst told me that it's 'cause it's petty near to high grade. That's weird.

Theory was interesting. I spotted several bots who seemed about to power down and the rest of my unit wasn't paying much attention either, but I really liked it.

Up till then, it had been okay. With Practicals, the real nightmare started. We had Agility training and it was horrible. I'm just not fast enough. We have to sprint on command and come to a stop on command. We have to practice running in a five-pointed star across five stones placed about a miniklick from each other. We also have to jump over the bars of a ladder (it's called a ladder drill.) and throw tiny balls and catch them with only one servo. I suck at _everything_. And because of that, I slow the whole unit down and we all have to do punishments for being last. Giga keeps giving me looks like she wants to kill me.

By the time we went to Assembly I was so tired that I could barely stand up, let alone stand to Attention. I was given a datapad containing the Covenant and the Autobot code. We're supposed to learn it by heart and recite it every Assembly. At break, I sat near my unit in the common room, but they mostly ignored me. I was really tired, but each time I was about to power down, Quicksilver kept poking me in the protoform and waking me up. She thought that it was funny and mimicked my voice when I told her to stop it. Finally, Giga made her cut it out, but in such a way that said _I-still-haven't-forgiven-you_.

Just when I was about to power down, there was a loud beeping sound, which was supposed to mean that we were supposed to go up to the dorms. So I had to get up and drag myself all the way there. It's not fair!

A bit after Giga said "Light's out.", I realized that I still hadn't typed today's entry. So I'm sitting up and typing now.

Bumbleb-

I think somebot is getting up. Scrap!

"What are you doing?" Cloudburst asks me. I answer that I'm typing in my log. She asks if she can see what I'm typing. I say no, 'cause this log is pretty personal. But I think she's looking over my servos anyway. I can't tell 'cause I'm trying to ignore her so that she might go away. She now asks me if I'm just going to type everything that she's saying. I say yes. That makes her laugh.

And now we're talking. She made a deal with me, that if I don't say anything to Giga about her being awake past Lights Out, she'll do the same for me. I'm kind of nervous about that (what if she finds out?) but I don't think I have much of a choice. I asked her why she was awake. She started telling me a long, long tale about running away from the ruins of Tarn into Wrecker territory. I don't know what it has to do with anything, but I'm listening anyway. She's still in the middle of it.

I think some parts are made up. She says, "Hey!", annoyed. "I can see what you're typing. It's not made up!" Of course, that's what anybot would say.

"Hey! I mean it! It's all true. Why don't you say what you want instead of typing it?" I shrug and reply that it's easier not to say everything you think and type it out later where nobot can read it. She says, "That sort of stuff won't get you anywhere, here. You have to be confident and assertive." And now she's talking about her escape from Tarn again and all the gory things she's seen there.

When she was finally done, I wondered what the point was. She said, "Nightmares keep me awake." Then she smiled all pretty and sweet and fake. Then we agreed to change the topic.

We've been talking for a long time now. I told her all about my horrible scores and how I keep coming last. She said that I'll soon improve. We also talked about a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember now.

I really have to recharge now, or I'm not going to be able to wake up tomorrow. Cloudburst is also going to try to power down. I hope she has better dream cycles now. Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Bah!" Knockout exclaimed. "That was challenging? Tiring? Exhausting?! We did so much more in a solar cycle in the Decepticon training centers."

"What was your schedule?" asked Ultra Magnus, sounding interested. "Get up, washracks, warm-ups, running and five hundred transformups. The goal was to reach two hundred per astrominute." All the Autobots looked awed, except for Ratchet. "Pfft. Did anybot actually reach that goal?"

"Well not really, no." Knockout admitted. "Only a few. Those that did were selected for specialized training courses."

"And then what did you do?" Knockout looked slightly taken aback by the level of interest that Ultra Magnus was showing.

"Well, an energon break, then what Bumblebee calls 'Practicals'."

"No theory?" Arcee was pretty surprised. Knockout flashed a grin at her. "No theory at all."

Ultra Magnus frowned. "That makes no sense. If you don't know how to maintain your ship, what will you do when it goes down?"

"The 'Cons had Seekers for that." Smokescreen pointed out. "They didn't need ships to fly."

Wheeljack rolled his optics. "That's not the only reason you might need a ship. What if you're transporting heavy cargo?" Smokescreen shrugged, defeated. "You might need theory for anything."

Bulkhead looked doubtful. "I don't know. I don't recall ever needing anything they taught us in theory. Seriously." Knockout cut in. "It was more because the 'Cons didn't have enough time or resources to comprehensively train each and every soldier. There were always too many new recruits."

"Well, that explains why many Decepticons seemed to be used as no more than cannon fodder." remarked Ratchet. "They were disposable."

"Of course." answered Knockout lazily. "Life and labor were cheap. Go on, Arcee. Let's get this sob story finished already."

Bumblebee gave him a look regarding the last comment, but Arcee went on before he could say anything.

* * *

Entry #36

Today was exhausting, just like yesterday. I don't know if I'm going to be able to continue this. It's crazy! I'm about to power down, but just managing to keep myself awake. Let's see how far I can get...

I almost couldn't wake up today. Quicksilver came in from the washracks and saw that I was still recharging, so she pulled me off the berth. That finally woke me up. She was laughing at me again, but at least she helped me up. I had to wash in about an astrosecond.

We had running after that. Then we had marching. Everything was just like yesterday. In theory, we had... I can't remember. My head hurts. Cloudburst stayed up just as late as I did and she's absolutely fine. It's not fair!

In Practicals, we had something called close combat, where you fight without any weapons. I was put in the beginner's group, but I still sucked. Even though all we learned were defensive postures.

I really need to recharge now. My head is pounding, like there's a virus in my processor. That's never happened to me before, but I've heard that it's awful. For some reason, the bots here say 'awful' and 'shut up' a lot. They also swear a lot. I hope I don't pick that up. Ratchet always told me not to say those words. I sometimes do, but only very rarely.

And that's all I can bear to type right now. Bumblebee out.

* * *

 **So, how was it? Tell me your feedback in a review!**


	14. Entries 37 and 38

There was a crash and a bang in the hallway. All the bots automatically rose. "What's going on?" Smokescreen demanded loudly. "Come out and show yourself, or I'll slice you into fine slivers!" Wheeljack added menacingly, pulling out his katanas. There was another loud bang and the door burst open. There stood the last three Vehicons remaining in existence. All the 'Bots relaxed.

They had been imprisoned along with Knockout at the end of the final battle for the control of the Nemesis. When Starscream set them all free, they followed him, like the rest, but had the luck to not have been shot at by the 'Bots. Instead, the three lay down on the floor, playing dead until the Wreckers picked up the frames to be carried to the smelting pit. Eventually, they were allowed to stay.

But they were oddballs. They refused to paint themselves in a color of their choice or even adopt names. They preferred being referred to as 'it' or 'they'. In fact, they held that if any Vehicon were to do anything different, it would be disgraced. The Autobots shrugged and tolerated them, mostly. "We demand to know what is going on!"

"Well, er..." started Bumblebee. "It's not really something that you'd be interested in." It was an Autobot tale, and although the Vehicons had agreed not to hurt the Autobots and let go of the order to kill, it was known that they were still very much Decepticon at spark. The peace between them was always uneasy. They would definitely not like what was going on.

"We demand to know!" The first Vehicon repeated. The bots glanced at one another tensely. "It's an old _Autobot_ log." Wheeljack spoke up, finally. "Are you interested? Thought not. Now clear off."

Two of the Vehicons made to leave, but the last one held them back. "We are interested." He insisted.

"Really?" Knockout scoffed, examining the buff on his digits. "Doesn't look it."

The Vehicons exchanged glances, seeming to talk through their optics, though it was difficult for them to express emotion through anything but their mouthpieces, due to their visor. Then they returned to glaring at the Autobots and Knockout. "We want to examine the data for Autobot propaganda and make sure that none of it is against the Decepticon ideals of-"

"Whatever." Bumblebee interrupted. "You can listen if you like."

"Fine."

The tension broken, the Autobots settled down onto their seats. The three Vehicons, however, remained standing by the door. Bumblebee pitied them. _There were thousands of them, and now just three remain in existence. It's almost like what happened to us Cybertronians._

"Sit!" Ratchet commanded harshly. They sat, though 'Bee thought they were a little offended.

He looked to Arcee. She nodded and began to read.

Entry #37

I've decided to type an entry every groon, like now, instead of every solar cycle. That's 'cause:

(1) I'm dead beat by the time training is over. I tried doing another entry yesterday, but I just don't have the energy left for it by the time training is over.

(2) At the end of each groon, we have a cycle of free time instead of just half a cycle. We even have less Practicals time (We're supposed to read the Covenant instead. BORING.) So I'm not as tired as I am usually.

(3) We practically have the same schedule every solar cycle, except for theory and Practicals. It would be stupid to type the same things in every entry.

And it's not like I have anything better to do in off-time anyway. Shadow is usually reading. Giga and Traction talk most of the time, 'cause they get along really well. Cloudburst moons about and looks out of the window and just acts bored. She doesn't have anything better to do either. Quicksilver always comm.s her family. She has two older sisters and a sire. She's lucky. Nobot pays much attention to me.

Right! That reminded me. I really need to comm. Axis. If I don't, she will probably not talk to me for the rest of my life. She me the day before yesterday. She was absolutely furious, 'cause I had promised to comm. her every solar cycle. I tried to explain how busy I am, but she cut off the connection. So I'm going to comm. her right after I finish this entry. I think she's a little lonely.

The bots here can be really mean. The scouting units are considered second-rate, compared to the warrior units. That's not fair, either! We're technically the ones who take all the risk by going into enemy territory to get information. But then again, I don't think anybot here cares about that much. The Unit Alpha warrior units are awful. They do whatever they can to annoy us and go out of their way to be terrible to me. Cloudburst says that it's because they don't think that I 'earned' the position of second-best. It's not my fault I got placed in Scout Team II!

Giga told me to tell her if anybot messes around with me. But I don't really feel like it. Cloudburst knows 'cause she happened to be there. But nobot else knows. She keeps nagging me to tell Giga. But what will Giga do about it anyway? It's not even like she likes me or even thinks that I'm okay. She keeps shooting me glances that tell me that I'm not obeying the fourth rule. It's a dumb rule! I'm a sparkling! I can't keep up with them! I shouldn't be here in the first place!

Cloudburst is coming here... I think she's going to talk to me about it again.

She's questioning me about my log, like how long I've kept it, who gave it to me and so on. Thank goodness she's talking about something else.

I spoke too soon. "Have you told Giga yet?" She hisses. I think that Giga heard that. No, wait, thank goodness she didn't.

I reply no. "Well, then tell her right now! She's going to be mad when she finds out that it happened twice and you still didn't tell her."

I answer, no, I am not going to do that. I like to deal with stuff in my own way. I don't need her to take care of my problems! She says., "Okay, Hero Complex. I am going to drag you over there and you are going to confess." I don't think she means it.

She meant it. Oh, Primus.

"Why did you stop there? What happened?" Bulkhead wondered. Bumblebee shrugged. "She dragged me over. I told Giga everything. She was furious that I didn't tell her."

"And then what did she do?" Arcee asked curiously.

"She called Shadow and Quicksilver over and then explained everything to me. It was something like this: Warrior Alpha, Beta and Gamma were always looking for new ways to bully us. Scouts I, II and III were always looking for new ways to prank them. Giga was just looking for her newest excuse to do that. It was bonkers, really, but that's how it was."

"So what did you guys finally do?"

'Bee smiled. "You'll see." He pressed the _next_ button.

Entry #38

This groon wasn't too bad. We actually pranked the Warrior Alphas! How cool is that? In the beginning, I was afraid that the Sir would find out, but thankfully, he didn't even suspect that anything had happened. He just pulled up Units Alpha and Beta for being super late.

It wasn't too hard, actually. All we needed was some strong rope. The Alpha and Beta dorms are opposite each other on the fourth floor. Both their doors open inwards. So we tied one end off the rope onto the doorknob of Alpha's dorm, and the other end to Beta's doorknob. Then, when it was finally a few minutes to 0600 cycles, we hammered really loudly on both doors. They both tried to open the door at the same time. They couldn't get out, 'cause both were straining on each end of the rope, trying to open their own doors! HAH! We had plenty of fun taunting them. The we ran.

They eventually figured out that one of them would have to let go for the other to come out, but I think that they must have wasted time arguing about who would open their door first, 'cause they showed up pretty late. Either that, or they're really dumb.

We missed washing and lost a bit of recharge, but it was worth it. All the credit goes to Shadow, though. He's the genius who came up with it.

The rest of the groon was okay. Warrior Alpha and Beta picked on us a little, but not too much. And guess what? I'm improving in running! My fuel efficiency has gone up, too. Well, I'm still last, but not a million klicks behind the others. Cloudburst was right. I am getting better.

Cloudburst is nice. We were talking about our names yesterday. Hers is weird. I've never heard of a cloud bursting before! But she said that her formers had been off-world explorers, and a cloudburst is when it suddenly begins to rain really hard. That doesn't happen much on Cybertron. Her formers said that it was the most beautiful and dangerous thing they had ever seen. So they named her Cloudburst. How nice. My name is kind of embarrassing. Bumble means to be clumsy and bee is old Cybertronian for 'little'. Thankfully, not that many bots know old Cybertronian. So it's okay, unless I tell anybot. Which I did. Like an idiot. At least she promised not to tell anybot else.

It's weird, sometimes, having a schedule. At the MCCC we usually had nothing to do unless somebot came in with a wound. Ratchet used to try to keep me busy with chores and stuff, but he was usually so busy himself that it was difficult to look after me and do all his jobs.

I commed Axis earlier and told her all about the prank. It made her laugh a lot. She's not angry with me anymore. Well, not really, anyway. She told me that the War has suddenly entered another gear. It's crazy in the medibay. They're lucky if they get two moments of peace. There are attacks, but because the younglings have joined the force, we are actually counterattacking too. This results in more 'Bots in the medibay, but we're actually winning, for a change! I told this to my unit. They looked super happy. They were asking me for a full account! I think that they were actually happy to listen to me, for a change.

But they mostly hate me anyway. Still, I've got to try!

The alarm for Lights Out just rang. I've got to go. Bumblebee out!


	15. Entries 39 and 40

**Yes! I'm on schedule again. 75 reviews, and this is the 15th chapter! I never dreamed I'd get this far. :D Thanks to the lovely reviewers!**

 **child of Jon snow: I used the term 'alarm' there since I figured that they wouldn't be using actual bells but electronic ones. It just means that they're supposed to go to their berths and recharge. I guess I wasn't clear enough about that... If you have any more questions, ask!**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: Yeah, he's slowly growing up. He's getting there.**

 **tfpfangirl101: Here it is, happily! I'm trying to keep a schedule going, so hopefully I won't be late again. :) I'm glad you're looking forward to this and liking it!**

 **SpiritFighter208: I don't know if 'bee' is actually some term for little... I made that up. XD But I figured that it would be right for him, since the medics who named him would want to figure out a fitting name. He is little... And he may have been clumsy, once upon a time. Cloudburst and 'Bee are getting along pretty well. Axis will forgive him, of course, he's practically like the only remaining family member she has.**

 **Game-Watch: I feel sorry for all the characters... They have to go through a lot regardless of what side they're on. Also, I would appreciate it if you didn't swear. I'm sorry, but I don't think that's the way to talk to anybody. I know you probably didn't mean to be offensive, but still.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #39

Warrior Alphas are sore losers. I forgot this datapad in the common room and only remembered it late at night. So I had sneak out to get it back. Thankfully, nobot caught me. And then I found this typed in the space of this entry:

BUMBLEBEE YOU'RE STUPID.

YOU'RE SO DUMB THAT IF THERE WAS A LAW AGAINST BEING DUMB, YOU WOULD BE IN THE SMELTING PIT BY NOW.

YOU'RE A RUNTY LITTLE **PAINTED** SCRAPLET WHO IS OF NO USE TO ANYBOT.

IN FACT, YOU MUST HAVE BEEN SO RUSTY THAT EVEN THE SCRAPLETS LEFT YOU BEHIND.

YOU'RE ALWAYS SO BEHIND YOUR UNIT THAT IT'S A WONDER THAT THEY LOOK BACK TO SEARCH FOR YOU ANYMORE.

YOUR IQ IS ZERO AND YOUR PHYSICAL STRENGTH IS EQUAL. SO IS YOUR AGE.

YOU SHOULD JUST LEAVE SO THAT A BOT WHO REALLY DESERVES IT CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE. AT LEAST WE'LL BE MESSING AROUND WITH SOMEBOT OUR OWN SIZE.

IF YOU DECIDE TO STAY THEN REMEMBER THAT IF YOU PRANK US WE WILL PAY YOU BACK **TEN** TIMES HARDER.

-WARRIOR ALPHAS

Like I said, they're sore losers. I know what Highlander would say if she read this. "Don't let it get to you, 'Bee. I thought they couldn't be more moronic, but they proved me wrong tonight." I mean, what's with the capitals? Is that supposed to intimidate me? Psht. A bunch of capitals doesn't scare me. I can make my font size bigger than theirs.

Yeah, that's not the point. But still.

But some of the things that they said are a little true. Like how I keep falling behind. I might improve – and I have – but what if I can't keep up the Scout Team II standard? That's a question that seriously scares me sometimes. I don't want to be left behind, or worse – be thrown out. I know I've got to work harder. That's what Ratchet always told me. But what if my best isn't good enough?

I've been improving steadily in running for two groons now. In marches I don't get tired as often. But that's it. In Practicals, I suck every time. It's annoying. If it's something that requires transformation, I have to do exhausting chores or run errands instead. It's almost like a punishment. It's not my fault that I'm a sparkling! It's your fault for putting me here!

I wish I was back in the MCCC. With Ratchet. And Axis. And Highlander too. And even Arcee. I miss them all. I wish I could stay a sparkling forever, so that nobot would even think of putting me in training. I don't want to grow up!

But there's no use saying that... This has just made me nostalgic and homesick. It did have an effect on me! NO! I'm just going to delete this entry.

I had my digits over the delete button, and I just realized, that it would be like giving up. You know what, datapad? (I am seriously past caring about the fact that you are non-sentient by now.) I'm going to keep this as a memento of how crazy they were. (I have taken a conscious effort not to swear here.)

Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Well, that was quite a useless little entry." Knockout noted. Bumblebee glared at him, but instead of replying, he said, "Carry on, Arcee."

"No!"The second Vehicon cut her off. "It's not useless. It proves that the Autobots are evil!" Arcee sighed, rolled her optics and carried on.

* * *

Entry #40

This groon was kind of mixed, with good things and bad things. It started off fine. Then we had Agility again in Practicals. Our instructor was mad that I hadn't improved much since the last two times (once last to last groon and once on my first day.) So he marked a line on the ground with white chalk powder. (He ended up getting it all over his faceplates. It was funny.)

Then he made me stand all alone on one side, while he handed everybot else the small balls we use for agility tests. My job was to start from a point about thirty miniklicks from the line and walk towards it. Everybot else was supposed to throw balls at me. If I got hit by a single one, I had to start again.

It was horrible! Even if those balls aren't as big as lobbing balls or even the scrapmetal one I used to play with, they still hurt. I kept getting hit and being sent back to the starting point. And we did this for three entire cycles, until Practicals was over. It was impossible not to get hit. And since my armor is still soft, it got dinged. I had hundreds of dents by the time it was over. (Okay, maybe not a hundred. I don't have room for that many. If I had a hundred dents, I would just be one big dent and no armor left.) I had to wait until the medic pounded every single one out. It hurt like the Pit! At least Cloudburst stayed to help me up afterwards when everybot else had left for Assembly. We got to miss it, thankfully, while the medic pounded out all my dents.

She warned me that bots might be mad at me for wasting their Practicals time throwing balls. They were a little, but not too much. I don't think anybot likes Practicals too much anyway. Our instructor is annoying.

The next solar cycle, the Warrior Alphas were on my tailpipe all the time. They asked me how I'd liked their 'present'. I replied that I'd liked it a lot and that I was thinking of engraving it on their dorm walls. That made them blow a fuse. So they beat me up.

By the time Practicals started, I just wanted to power down and forget about everything in the universe. Then the instructor said that we were doing Agility again, since I had failed yesterday. There were lots of protests, but he started lecturing us about how each chain is as strong as a link or something that I don't really remember. It was boring and philosophical.

This time, he was a little more fair, though. He gave me three hits with the ball before I would have to start again. This time, I succeeded! How amazing is that! After a cycle of trying, I finally got to the line. I got a few pats on the back struts from my unit. Then it was back to Practicals. Close combat. Again. And I still suck.

Then came the good parts of the groon. We got revenge on the Warrior Alphas by sneaking into their dorms and pouring lubricant all over their floor, so that they fell down when they got up the next morning. I was given the task of stealing the lubricant from the medibay. It wasn't very hard, since there aren't any security cameras in there. We spared the Warrior Betas this time, though.

The main problem was getting there, through all the cameras. We did not want to be discovered and held responsible. The problem was that it was a pretty major prank. Nobot would have complained about the rope thing, but obviously, at least the cleaners would make a fuss about all the lubricant on the floor. So we had to be extra careful about not getting caught. Finally, Giga selected herself and Traction to go to carry out the job, 'cause they're the best at this sort of thing.

It was a complete success. The Warrior Alphas knew that we'd done it, of course, but they couldn't say a word, since they had no proof. Giga and Traction took care to not even leave a lubricant soaked print. They tried to club us all and get us to confess, but we kept mum. The best part was that when Sir saw that one of them was trying to hurt me, he let us go scot-free, without a single question. Cloudburst says that he has a soft spot for me. I don't like that. It makes me seem weak. But for the rest of my unit, it's just a free pass away from interrogation.

The rest of the groon was okay, since the Warrior Alpha kept quiet... Except for this last half-cycle. That was fantastic! I Axis and we exchanged stories. Then my unit members crowded round me and demanded me to put her on speaker, since, she's the closest thing we can get to a live account of the war. I wanted to write it down word for word here, but I can't remember now. The gist is that the Autobots won the Battle of the Vanguard, after a lot of fighting. Thankfully, there weren't as many bots injured as usual. Looks like the younglings out there are really making a difference.

That made me realize that someday, I will be sent out there, and they'll expect that I'll make a difference, too. The thought chills me. I'm still afraid of going on the field... But I have to help the Autobots, no matter what. It's like being in the medibay. You have to do your job and help the medics, no matter how scared you feel, 'cause bots are depending on you to get them medicines or patch their leaking wounds, and if you hesitate, they might die. So you just go on.

Ah, well, Bumblebee out.

* * *

 **How was it? Review and let me know your thoughts.**


	16. Entries 41 and 42

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated... I guess I really don't have an excuse this time, except for writers' block, but that's gone now, so it's okay. Still, from now on, I'm going to try and post once every week, since I don't seem to be able to keep my old schedule up.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #41

This groon was horrible. I had been feeling tired for the past couple of days, but I just ignored it. Then, yesterday, the real trouble started. Running was okay. I finished in a tie with a Unit Zeta mech. I started to real tired after that. My pedes felt as though they were covered with molten iron. In marching, I could barely keep up with everybot else. Shadow, who was behind me as usual, kept cursing at me the whole while.

Eventually, we were given the order to halt. I hate it when we have to do that. Sometimes we have to stand in position for a cycle without moving. This time, I fell down on the ground and blacked out. The medic, Calorie, told me later that it was because I locked my pedes together while standing. It disrupted the energon flow, which was the final blow to my strained frame.

I don't know exactly what happened after that, but I think they carried me over to the medibay. I was weaving in and out of consciousness. I think I woke up once and started to order the medic around like Ratchet. It was weird. Cloudburst said that I talked a lot, but I have no idea what I said, though, looking at her expression, I guess that it must have been pretty funny.

I finally woke up properly at around 1900 cycles. Nobot was in the room. I started to feel really lonely, so cried a bit. I want to go home. I know that if I was at the MCCC, Ratchet would be sitting right next to me, probably checking something on a datapad or something. He'd say "Oh, you're awake." And then he'd fuss over me. I actually miss that. He cares about me. He... he loves me, though he never says it. At least, I think he does. Nobot cares very much about me here.

After that, I composed myself and wondered what to do next, since there was nobot around. Then I realized that Calorie must have gone to Assembly, so I waited for about half a cycle until it was over and she came back. She checked me over once. Then, to my surprise, my unit came in. They asked me how I was feeling, whether it hurt, did I remember what I said, and so on. That made me feel a little better.

Shadow didn't talk much. He mostly looked out of the window. But I don't think he likes anybot here much anyway. Traction, Giga, Cloudburst and Quicksilver sat on my berth and described how the Theory teacher had made all of them raise their servos straight in the air for three entire cycles, 'cause they hadn't been paying attention. They cursed a lot, though they were careful to do it only when Calorie was out of the room.

Finally, Calorie said that they would have to leave in a little while. So Giga made the rest of my team go up to our dorm and made Traction take temporary charge, 'cause she said she wanted a word with me. That made me feel nervous. Giga started talking about how she'd come here. She told me that she had once had three older brothers plus a set of femme spark twins, so five siblings in total. They lived in a plush house on the outskirts of Nova Cronum. She was of an elite caste and her sire and carrier had been politicians that formed a lower committee within Nova Cronum. She said that they lived a very comfortable life. They thought nobot could touch them. Their family didn't even bother to take sides in the war. Then Nova Cronum was destroyed and she lost everything. She was taken in by the Autobots, but she had to toughen up.

That's what she was asking me to do. Toughen up. She said that they can't wait forever for me to grow up. Then she left. Then I started to cry.

Is it my fault that I came here? That the Sir put me in Scout Team II? Is it my fault?

Why did they do this? Why am I here? Why do I even exist? The world would be a lot better without me.

... Okay, that was a stupid thing to type. But it's still a valid question...

Maybe... I think...

I don't know...

Ratchet's always told me to make the best of whatever I'm given. What do I have? Myself. Nobot and nothing else.

Then I'll just have to try. I don't have a choice.

Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Why was 'Bee even in there?" Bulkhead demanded, smashing his large fists together angrily. The Vehicons winced. "He was way too young."

Ratchet sighed. "I never really understood that either. I argued with Prowl over this for a long time. Neither of us finally won the argument and Bumblebee was sent off anyway. His 'reasons' were that Bumblebee lacked exposure and that since he didn't even want to become a medic, he was wasting his time."

"Well, he was kind of right." Bumblebee admitted. "I didn't do any kind of physical exercise in the medibay. I needed that experience. It would have been even harder for me to adapt if I had gone later. In a way, it was a good thing I went when I did. Go on, Arcee." The femme nodded and continued to the next entry.

* * *

Entry #42

This groon was okay. Running is going good – I'm improving! Marching is horrible as usual. Theory is boring, 'cause our instructor is always being grumpy and looking for an excuse to punish us. I guess a scraplet crawled up her tailpipe this groon. Practicals is slowly getting better.

I just have to keep focused till I become a youngling next groon. I just have to last till then. Giga's still on my case, but at least she can see that I'm making an effort. When I become a youngling, my frame will upgrade and I won't have to worry as much any more. I just have to make it to the next groon.

The only thing I'm really worried about, though, is Cloudburst. She's been moodier than ever this groon. She woke me up last night and asked if she could talk to me. But I was too exhausted to do that and fell back into recharge. She's been upset for all of today. I tried to talk to her about it in Theory class, but she ignored me. I hope that she'll be okay.

Oh, Primus. Axis is me. She's going to kill me, 'cause I didn't comm. her last groon or before I started typing right now. Frag it. Frag it, I need to stop swearing. Aargh!

Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Bumblebee can swear?!" Knockout asked, mock horror on his faceplate. "I thought you were a good little bot. Innocent and all." Several bots snickered.

Bumblebee grinned. "Don't look at me, look at her." He pointed to Arcee. "I picked it up from her after I'd finally gotten rid of the habit. She swears like Ratchet's dropping a wrench on her pedes every few astroseconds when we're on a mission."

"No, I don't!"

"This conclusively proves that the Autobots are a source of evil." Said the Vehicon sitting in the center of his comrades.

All the bots laughed. "Ha-ha." Arcee rolled her optics and went on.

* * *

 **How was it? Review and let me know! I will try and stick to a better schedule now! :)**


	17. Entries 43, 44, 45 and 46

**I am so sorry that I didn't update sooner... But we're getting to the end of this fic - one or two more chapters at most. I don't want to be one of those authors who put their fics on hiatus and never complete them, so this _will_ be completed. **

**RoboDiamondDragon09 : It's a fact that Arcee swears a little too much.**

 **Game-Watch : You can put it that way, yeah. But I don't think that it's canon that the Pre-War government used the Autobot badge, at least in the Aligned continuity. The term 'Autobots' was invented by Orion Pax (and I'm guessing the symbol too), according to the novel Exodus. Then again, I never liked that book much anyway. I prefer to assume that the Autobots have plenty of grey shades that they inherited from the Pre-War government.**

 **tfpfangirl101 : I'm glad you liked it! I would love to hear your ideas, though, since I already have an ending planned, I don't know if I will necessarily use them. Though, like I said, I'd love to hear them.**

 **DarkKeybladePhantomofTime : Glad you like it!**

 **child of Jon snow : He felt tired due to the strain on his sparkling frame. I'm happy to hear that you were looking forward to this!**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Entry #43

Finally! I finally became a youngling this groon. I upgraded two nights ago in my recharge, so that when I woke up I was taller and lighter. It was weird. I kept stumbling over my own pedes 'cause it was difficult to keep balance. My armor hardened, too, which is a relief. And I got my first alt-mode! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!? I love it. It's model 57UB, which they use for really light frames.

I had to go all the way back to Iacon to receive it, so I got an entire solar cycle off. It was kind of uncomfortable, since I was practically the only one in the transport ship. But that left me with an entire compartment to myself. The driver went really slow, since he was paranoid about Decepticons in the sky. Besides, the ship itself was really old.

We finally arrived at Iacon at about 1315 cycles. He dropped me off at the MCCC. It was amazing to see it again, but I didn't get much time to stand and stare. They pulled me in and directed me to the Transformations office, where a mech called Ripoff showed me how to scan it. He said that they knew who my sire was, and so they'd decided to make a few adjustments to the standard model to try and make it run faster.

After I finished with that, they made me do a couple of test laps. My top speed was 183 klicks/cycle. Without training! Can you believe that? I definitely can't! And Ripoff said that with training, I could improve to around 450 klicks/cycle on a standard track. That's way above average. And I'm already improving! Yesterday, I clocked 194 klicks/cycle. That's way faster than many bots here.

When that was done, I was asked whether I wanted to change my name or paintjob. I thought about it for a little while, but then I decided not to. I like my paintjob the way it is. And even if I don't like the meaning of my name... It's something Ratchet gave to me. I don't want to go around being called something else. Besides, it's not like I could really think of anything better.

They were planning to send me back after that, but I demanded that I be allowed to see Ratchet and Axis before I left. They wouldn't have let me, but I made a huge fuss about it in front of everybot, so they had to let me go. But it was only for half a cycle. They were overjoyed to see me, though Ratchet's not doing that well. Apparently, he got involved in a skirmish while on field medic duty and it ended up badly for him.

Axis told me that he'll be back up and walking in a solar cycle or so. She's doing fine, mostly. She likes being Ratchet's 'little assistant'. But she hates reading all the stuff that Ratchet gives her to study. The subject is interesting, but she hates reading in general. She'll be alright, though.

I started training as a youngling yesterday. I learned how to shoot. It's not too hard. I'm better at that than close combat, at least. Transform-ups suck, though. Everybot hates them.

I have to go to recharge now – the alarm just rang. Bumblebee out!

* * *

Entry #44

This whole groon has been exhausting. Now that I'm a youngling, I have to learn so many new things that involve transformation. I think I might just drop off in the middle of break and then my unit will have to wake me up when it's time to recharge. Oh, well. At least Giga isn't giving me evil looks anymore.

My speed has improved more and more. My top is now 239 klicks/cycle. That's crazy! I'm getting better at shooting, too, though I think that I'll never be as good as Quicksilver. She's so accurate that the instructor recently decided to send her to special sniper training at the MCCC in Iacon. If she does well there, she might even leave our unit to become a late entrant into the Sniper program. I feel happy for her, but on the other servo, I don't really want her to leave, even if she's a little mean and childish sometimes. The unit wouldn't be the same anymore.

Axis says that the war is slowly growing worse. She says that she's been hearing horrible stories lately, about what the 'Cons do to their Autobot victims. I hope that at least a majority of them aren't true. I'm really starting the fact that I will have to go on the field some solar cycle or the other.

We're going to play a new prank on the Warrior Alphas. They've been really annoying lately. It's going to feel a little odd and incomplete without Quicksilver around, since she's always the most enthusiastic. But we'll see. Bumblebee out.

* * *

Entry #45

We pulled off an amazing prank on the Alphas! They literally went crazy! I just wish I could have seen their faceplates as they woke up in the morning.

The first thing we did was go to their room and place large hollow cubes around, painted in official looking letters saying: WARNING: DO NOT LIFT UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE EATEN BY THE SCRAPLET INSIDE.-ADMINISTRATION. We kept them everywhere, even on their berths. Then we crept out and placed a giant sign on their door saying: WARNING: THIS ROOM IS INFESTED WITH SCRAPLETS. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR.-ADMINISTRATION. , so that when they will open the door, everybot will run like there are actually scraplets after them.

We made Shadow stand outside with a recording device to capture the moment when they burst out of the door. It was hilarious! We wanted to put one inside their dorm, too, but we couldn't find a good place to hide it where they wouldn't find it.

Cloudburst is ill. A virus got into her system and she's been just lying about since yesterday. I hope she gets better soon, 'cause she seems depressed. Maybe it's just because she's been lying around on the medi-berth for two solar cycles. Not just because she has nightmares, but she's almost afraid of stopping at one place and not constantly moving. That's why she's so focused, but restless at the same time. Some bots like to call her 'Twitchy'.

I've got to go and visit her now. We were all waiting for Giga to get official permission. I've got to go now. Bumblebee out.

Entry #46

I am terrified. We're going to be deployed at the end of the next groon. Frag it. Frag it. I don't want to! I've been training as a youngling for only four groons so far. Frag it.

It's not like I have a choice. I hate being a medic. I'm not smart enough for communications. I don't have any alternatives. I have to steel up and get out there on the field. Maybe I'll be able to work my way up to a desk job some solar cycle. But that will take stellar cycles – maybe even vorns.

It's ironic. When I was in the medibay as a sparkling, all I wanted was to get out of there. If that meant going out onto the field, then I accepted that. Anything but becoming a medic. I wanted to grow up as fast as possible. But now... I'd do anything to become a sparkling again. To hide in the store closet and make Ratchet come and find me, or to play stupid little clapping games with Arcee, or to pretend to be soldiers with Axis... I want it back.

"I wish I could turn back the dial of time, and escape to oblivion." Is one of the most famous lines from the Tomes Of Rhuin, a famous epic written in old Cybertronian. It about sums up how I feel right now. That's what Shadow said, too. I think that he's just as scared as I am. Giga and Traction laugh at our complete and utter lack of bravery, but I think they feel it too, somewhere deep inside.

Cloudburst is the only one that doesn't seem affected. Or maybe it's just buried too deep for me to see. She's as restless as ever. Quicksilver will be back the solar cycle after tomorrow. Primus alone knows what her reaction will be. Everybot in the whole room is scared – you can feel the tension in the room as they discuss it.

If nothing else...if we don't lose ourselves...we might lose each other. That's almost more terrifying.

On the bright side, I'm getting better at training. That could help us, save our lives... But it doesn't seem like much of a bright side anyway. Bumblebee out.

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 **I feel shameful to ask for reviews after such a long break from this fic, but any reviews would be greatly appreciated. :)**


	18. Entries 47, 48 and 49

**Hello. I am so, so sorry. I am months late and there are no excuses. I've felt out of touch with the fandom lately... But, well, I'm back.**

 **And I'm sorry I made you guys wait so long.**

 **Still, I know the next chapter will be on time! How, you ask. You've proven very unreliabe.**

 **Simple: I've written it already. So day after tomorrow, tops. :)**

 **Anyway... Enjoy.**

 **I don't own Transformers: Prime.**

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Entry#47

It feels so odd to be leaving the training center. It had become home, in a way. I don't think I'll ever see it again. The transport ship is going to take us to the front lines, near Protihex. It seems crazy that we've even held onto it for so long. Protihex itself is just rubble now, with no civilians left. It's sad. I wonder what Ratchet must be feeling. He loved his hometown. But, well, that's the way it is, I suppose.

All the Scouting units have been deployed and are crammed into the transport ship with us. The Warriors aren't here, since they're going to be deployed seven groons later. Everybot is talking in here and it's chaotic, so I brought this datapad out. Giga and Traction are discussing something, as usual. Cloudburst is pacing up and down and the commanding officer is now shouting at her and a couple of others who got up, to try and make them return to their seats. Quicksilver and Shadow are debating about something – I really don't know what.

Now Cloudburst is coming back. She looks really sulky. Quicksilver said, "Sit down, Twitchy." She sat, but she wasn't happy about it.

Suddenly, a voice called out over all the racket, "Quiet!" At first, I thought it was the officer from earlier, but it's the leader of Scout Team I. Since he's a part of Team I, he's respected even across units. He's asked us to do something together, other than just talking, since it's unlikely that we'll ever see each other again. We may all be heading to Protihex right now, but we'll disperse along the border from there. Primus knows where we'll all finally end up.

Somebot suggested singing. I hate singing, I'm horrible at it. But she and her unit have already started, and other bots are joining in. Now all my unit members have started too. Cloudburst is encouraging me to join. She said, "Let go of that datapad for a moment and participate, for once." Maybe I'll take her advice. Maybe.

Bumblebee out.

* * *

Entry # 48

We're on our posts now. Ours is a rural posting near the Hydraux plateau, a bit west of Tyger Pax. It's a weird place, since there aren't any settlements around or anything Apparently the 'Cons attack this area often, though, so we have to stay here and take care of things. But I can't imagine what Megatron sees in this place. It's super desolate.

We're posted with Scout Unit IV, but we mostly don't have to work with them. There are four mechs and two femmes - Gallant, Olo, Comeup and Drifter, and Celerity and Breakout. The last member of the team that was here before us died a solar cycle ago of his injuries. Not a good sign.

But so far, life here has been boring. There's nothing out here, just klicks and klicks of empty plateau. A part of me wants it to stay that way forever.

...Still...

I'm too bored to care about that part anymore.

My unit has been put up in a tiny room. There are lots of warriors here, and they train every solar cycle with us. But mostly, our Unit sticks together, 'cause we're the only bots we know.

Giga's been tense ever since we arrived here. She's itching to get out onto the battlefield. Maybe some part of her thinks that it's better to get it over with and step onto the field for the first time. For real. I almost agree. Almost.

So there isn't much to report, anyway... Bumblebee out.

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Entry #49

Today was tense.

We got word from one of our spies that the Cons were most likely planning an offensive on our northern border, so Scout Unit IV was bridged into their base to scout and report back. The spy (I don't know his name, since he obviously wasn't allowed to tell) met them near the periphery and gave them a rough idea of the schematics of the base. They had to crawl through the exhaust vents to find the Decepticon grounds, where all their equipment was kept.

The overall report was that the 'Cons had amassed a hoard of advanced tech and energon. Why Megatron wanted this area badly enough to pour that many resources into it, Primus alone knew.

There's a major offensive coming up, says Giga. They're going to attack the solar cycle after tomorrow. Which means that we'll be deployed as scouts on the battlefield then. For the very first time. I'm pretty sure I'll be leaking transmission fluid by the time we go out onto the field.

...Well, I hope not. That would be embarrassing.

Bumblebee out.

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 **Please review, if you can. (Though I won't blame you if you don't.) Next one's the last chapter, folks! Thanks for all the support.**


	19. Entry 50 (And A Little Epilogue)

**So here we are! Last chapter. Finally. It's been a long, long ride - nineteen chapters and almost a hundred reviews! This is seriously the longest thing I've ever written. I might do a companion fic to this, but that's not decided yet. Well, this is over, anyway. I can't believe it! I'v e been writing this fic for... Let's see... three months. Whoa!**

 **Thanks to all the reviewers who read this and gave me feedback, right from the first chapter. I really appreciate it.**

 **Sidekicks-anonymous: No kidding.**

 **Game-Watch: Tyger Pax... Well, at least he gets his voicebox back eventually.**

 **RoboDiamondDragon09: I know, right? XD.(about the leak thing.) Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, though I myself hadn't liked it too much. What do you mean, I'm alone now?**

 **I don't own TFP.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Entry #50

Today's is a special log entry, since I just can't get this stuff out of my head. It's fragging impossible. I've been up for way, way too long, but there's just no way that I can recharge right now. Whenever I shut down my optics, I see and feel like I'm running through the smoke again, dodging shots and seeing others fall to the side. I just can't get it out of my processor. I have no idea how the others have powered down so easily.

I know that Cloudburst isn't sleeping, she never does. But I haven't approached her and she hasn't approached me, either. I don't know about her... but I just want some peace and quiet right now. A nice way of saying I want to be left alone, I suppose.

Okay, I guess I should just quit stalling and get right to it.

Early this morning, we were deployed. Our original orders were to scout ahead into Decepticon territory, and so we did. All of us were there, both Units, to form a common scouting unit. Giga was the leader, with Olo as the second-in-command.

We were ushered into the temporary shelter that had been put up for the Commander. The Commander gave us a quick briefing. "Yer to cover the area and tell us the number of troops, what they're doing and so on. You know the drill. Just don't be seen. Or they'll flay you alive. Dismissed! Roll out!"

We knew that the 'Cons would be attacking from two sides, most likely, so Giga divided us into two groups. I was with Gallant, Olo (the leader), Breakout, Cloudburst and Traction. We were to take the west side, the others would be taking the north. Our side was actually more dangerous, since it was closer to the Decepticon base. It was scary heading out for the first time, but I steeled myself and did it.

We started off close to the hills on the west side, being careful so that the 'Con's wouldn't be able to point us out with their long range scopes. There was no way to stay out of range, so we would just have to make sure that no thermal imaging scans detected us. We finally peeked out over a range.

It was crazy! I can't remember the last time I saw so many bots. Maybe it was at that party we held to celebrate the victory at Kalis. We guessed that there were about a thousand and five hundred in total, all standing in perfect formation while being briefed right outside their base. We saw a couple of bots with fusion cannons– maybe a division of them? - and there seemed to be plenty of long rangers as well, along with materials for the construction of platforms and rocket launchers. Those could be a real problem for Autobot troops. That made me realize that Decepticon scouts were also probably looking at neatly arranged Autobot rows and columns and reporting that back to their commander as well. Cloudburst says that it's all just a game that both sides play, since they're mostly equally matched and there's really no point to it at all.

We came back and reported all this to the Commander. And we thought that was that. Except we were called back in about 5 cycles later, saying that there weren't enough Bots and we had to join battle. And he would, hereafter, be expecting us to this for every battle. So we got ready. And then the real chaos erupted.

We were split into groups of three and deployed to different sides. Cloudburst and Traction were with me. We ran through, shooting through any 'Cons we could see, not caring or having the time to look behind to see if we were still together. Everything was panic. There was no way to tell who you were fighting – it was just a mass of frames struggling to kill the ones around them just in order to gain enough space to vent, let alone survive. There was danger everywhere, in the 'Cons I shot at, in the frames I tripped over, in my unit members – I was half afraid they'd mistake me for somebot else and shoot me. I don't even remember half of what happened. All that I know is that eventually the fighting stopped, and I could drag myself back to camp without the fear of being killed by a fusion cannon laser.

There was a frame on the ground. Still alive. Livid red optics. He was a 'Con. He wanted me to help him up, so that he could shoot me and 'preserve his honor' or something like that. He was leaking, lying in a pool of his own energon. I knew that there was no way he would survive. I just stared at him. He was slowly growing delirious. Finally, he begged for me to end him. Then I shot him.

Those optics are going to haunt me forever, I think.

When I came back, I was scolded for losing contact with my unit. They all looked really relieved to see that I was okay. The medics told me to clean up and go straight to my berth. But there's no way I can recharge now. I don't even know what to feel.

I remember once when I was really little, I asked a mech who'd come into the medibay for a war story. What I got instead was," Never forget those who you kill. Because they'll never forget you." That was the first and last time I ever asked for a war story.

Bumblebee out.

* * *

"Well, that was depressing." Knockout muttered. "That's enough, I think." said Arcee quietly. "I'm not reading any more."

"We agree." answered the Vehicons from across the room. Everybot stared at them. Wheeljack snorted. "Oh come on, they've probably been in countless battles too."

"Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked. All optics turned to him. The young mech stared at the datapad for a while before answering. "Let's stop." He agreed tiredly. "There's a lot more of this kind of stuff in the next entries. It's not something I want to remember. In fact... I'm going to destroy this datapad tomorrow morning. There's just way to much sorrow in there for me to handle."

" _No."_

Bumblebee looked towards the direction of the sound, stunned. "What?" Then he looked again. "Wait, _what!?_ "

Optimus Prime stood in the doorway.

"You were listening?" Optimus nodded.

"The entire time?" He nodded again.

"Are you alive?" He shook his helm. Bumblebee groaned. "Really? You come back, but you're not alive? What kind of a resurrection is that?"

Optimus ignored him. "I came back," he said patiently, "because I needed to make sure that this was not destroyed."

"It's an evil thing!" One of the Vehicons protested.

"It is actually a valuable piece of history." He corrected.

Ratchet glared daggers at him. "Let me get this straight." He said slowly. "You came back, since destroying this would be like walking on Orion Pax the archivist's grave."

"Well..." admitted Optimus,"I do have a slight ability to interfere when I want to, but I came to make sure that this datapad is not forgotten, actually."

"You may find its contents unsettling right now... But later, Bumblebee, when you read this, you'll realize how much you gained and not how much you lost. One day, you will understand its importance. Perhaps not tonight, but it will happen."

Bumblebee opened his mouth in protest, but Optimus cut him off. "And," he thundered, and everything seemed to grow quiet, "When that solar cycle comes, it will be your responsibility to remind our bots of the wounds that they don't realize to lay unhealed. One solar cycle, it will trigger revolution."

"So Cybertron is doomed?"asked Arcee, narrowing her optics. "No matter what we do? To yet another war? More destruction?"

"Not for a long time." said Optimus softly. "Maybe history will turn one way or another. But until then... I ask that you remember who you killed. So that their role in this long chain of events is not forgotten. If you remember, and learn... Only then can you be called wise."

Then he disappeared.

* * *

 _8 vorns later_

"Ratchet didn't even realize he'd been painted a brilliant blue and was somehow glowing, until I started laughing. Luckily, since I was out yesterday, he didn't think that I was involved. Which is true. Honest."

"Was it really?"

"Well... I don't really remember, Flora. It was a long time ago."

"So...You were involved. Hah!"

Bumblebee scowled. "I was not. He said pointedly. The other sparklings giggled. "You want me to continue tonight's story, or are you going to interrupt me again?"

"Sorry. I won't again."

Later, as the sparklings were put to recharge (or, more accurately, pushed into their berths), Bumblebee sidled up to a distracted Arcee, who was sitting on a small bench outside the house. "Arcee..."

"What?"

"Is this what Optimus intended? Cybertron is currently, for all intents and purposes, a daycare center."

Arcee grinned. "Now you feel my pain. And Ratchet's."

Bumblebee snorted. "Seriously, though..."

"'Bots will come back. Eventually. And then we can begin reconstruction properly."

They sat in silence for a little while. Both moons were full today, a rare occurrence.

"Are you going to tell them the whole story?

"Not the gory or depressing parts, but yeah... As much as I can bear to. Somehow, now... It feels like somebot else's story. Like it wasn't really me typing it at all."

"We're changing... Slowly... But we'll never forget."

"Bumblebee! Arcee!" It was Ratchet. "What on Cybertron are you two doing out here?"

"There are two full moons, Ratchet, look." He looked, and sure enough, they were there, like two pearls in the sky.

"Ah, yes... How could I have forgotten... Come in. There's plenty of work to do."

Bumblebee sighed and went inside, after offering a servo to Arcee. They would work to a better future. Where nobot would have to live like he did.

He was sure of it.

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 **How'd you like it? I'm not very good with endings. But I tried my best. Please do review with your thoughts, for the last chapter!**


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